Myriam Gendron - Not So Deep As A Well

First official European release of Myriam Gendron's jaw-dropper of a debut from 2014. Nine years down the line, Not So Deep As A Well, still possesses the power to astonish. I'm not sure it's quite the 'sleeper hit' the accompanying press release suggests - just how many people have actually heard it? - though there's an enduring, dare I say, timeless quality to both Gendron's voice and her way with a tune that feels like it's been around for an age and could extend onwards forever. This will be in part attributable to the words, lifted from the poetry of Dorothy Parker and shifted into song, as if ancient messages from the past gifted the glimmer of new light and shine. Such practice is a time honoured aspect of folk music culture and Gendron understands her role well as a vessel of that process, divining the truth, rendering it anew, and passing it on, folk not just as oral tradition but as a gift too. And speaking of which, this latest edition bestows more generosity upon the listener by including two previously unreleased recordings made at same time back in 2014. As if it wasn't already enough.