Sara Watkins - Under The Pepper Tree (Album Review)
As a ground-down and curmudgeonly father of two, I am possibly not the best person to be reviewing Sara Watkins’ new children’s album. Children’s album. To me, it’s a chilling pairing of words. Having endured eight long years of inane toddler CDs on perpetual repeat, I like to think that this particular hell-genre has in some way contributed to my frankly harrowing mental and physical decline. I put it to you that children’s music is just one of the many unpleasant forms of torture visited upon unsuspecting parents the world over and therefore ought not to be encouraged.
It’s a relief, then, to find that Sara Watkins – she of Nickel Creek, Watkins Family Hour and I’m With Her fame – has taken this as an opportunity to chronicle the great Hollywood songbook, rather than to teach pre-schoolers numeracy or animal noises via the medium of song. In that sense, Under The Pepper Tree really is better described as a covers album with childhood at its core. It’s also allowed Watkins to take a small step away from the bluegrass trappings of her usual gig: no blazing mandolin workouts or barnstorming fiddleree here. Instead, there is a focus on an intimate, maternal warmth, with Watkins’ breathtaking voice placed right at the centre of things.
The music from films we watch in our formative years is indelibly carved into our being. This is particularly the case for the VHS generation, endlessly rewinding and rewatching ‘60s musical classics like Chitty Chitty Bang Bang and The Sound Of Music. So, the instantly recognisable strains of ‘Edelweiss’ and ‘Pure Imagination’ are seriously comforting, but Watkins delves still further back, with a reverential rendition of ‘When You Wish Upon A Star’ (from Pinocchio, 1931) and the rather sleepy cowboy classic ‘Tumbling Tumbleweeds’ from the 1935 Gene Autry film of the same name. Watkins is joined on the latter by her I’m With Her bandmates, Aoife O’Donovan and Sarah Jarosz and elsewhere there is room for a Nickel Creek reunion too; on Randy Newman’s ‘Blue Shadows On The Trail’, from the 1986 comedy The Three Amigos. This continues the western theme and both pieces ensure this collection really will have a wide, cross-generational appeal.
As the legendary children’s classics roll on, (Peter Pan: tick; Lady & The Tramp: tick, Mary Poppins: tick) it certainly gives the modern parent cause to consider how bombastic the contemporary Disney musical has become (yes, Frozen, I am looking at you) and how, by comparison, these vintage songs are able to instil a feeling of serene calm and emotional security. This is one of Watkin’s intentions for the record: that it can be used to contribute to some much needed domestic peace at those transitional points in a young family’s daily routine. And she pulls it off. Certainly, songs like ‘Beautiful Dreamer’ (popularised by Roy Orbison but actually written in the mid-1800s) are tailor-made for bedtime. Sara Watkin’s original – one of only two, tucked away on the record – ‘Night Singing’ is a beautiful lullaby that more fits this bill too, as Watkins sings “Rest your eyes/Lay down your head/Trust the earth beneath your bed”.
The aforementioned ‘Edelweiss’ has all the closeness and charm of a homemade cassette recording, as Watkins’ own three-year-old joins in, conjuring images of the sort of domestic idyll every expectant parent dreams of. It’s such a nugget of warmth that the indulgence of Watkins Jr’s appearance is instantly justified, and it segues perfectly into a spacious, pin-drop rendition of ‘Moon River’. In fact, this record is an object lesson in the art of the segue, as each track bleeds dreamily into the next (with the exception of one break in the middle, to change sides, vinyl fans).
It’s a very delicate business, tackling songs as lauded and legendary as these. ‘When You Wish Upon a Star’, for instance, is a song that almost everyone you pass in the street could give a vocal approximation of but to which few world-class singers could do proper justice. Some might say that these songs are just too huge to mess with and some artists would be daunted at the thought of even trying. Not Sara Watkins. She has handled these precious trinkets from a bygone age with uncommon care and sensitivity. As a result, vocally, she has never sounded so formidable. As you might expect, there is a wistful quality to the performances but there’s also a pleasing realism to them; they’re not over-polished and not one of them feels too sickly sweet. They carry in them all the weary and watery-eyed love that goes with being a parent and Watkins’ ability to put that across is quite remarkable.
For an old grump like me, Under The Pepper Tree is a reminder that in between the mess, stress and near-constant high-volume blaring of ‘Let It Go’, there can – and should – be space. And time to breathe. And opportunities to appreciate those precious moments, before they fly away forever. Even though it is likely to be better enjoyed by grown-ups; from a parent’s perspective, this is probably the best children’s album ever.
Review by Rich Barnard
Under The Pepper Tree is released March 26th via New West Records and will be available across digital platforms, on compact disc, and standard black vinyl.
A limited to 1,500 Neon Pink with Metallic Silver Vinyl Edition will be available at Independent Retailers worldwide, while a limited to 500 Translucent Blue Vinyl Edition will be available directly via New West Records.
A new name to me, but based on the new EP, ‘Tigers in Your Backyard (Nocturnal Edition)’, Molly Murphy is one to watch. Initially, Molly embarked on a promising college career as a double Film and English Major pursuing a career in screenwriting but left all that behind to form a band (as you do). Murphy’s latest release finds the singer-songwriter adding a modern sheen to her traditional Celtic roots.