On this excellent twelve-track album, Australian guitarist, vocalist and songwriter Frank Yamma, ably backed by Bart Willoughby (drums), David Bridie (piano and keys), Phil Wales Bilas (guitar) and Helen Mountfort (cello), produces a sparse yet warm, sweeping sound.
Yamma’s expressive voice is put to dramatic use on the moody She Cried which aches with yearning and he is in fine form on the soaringly melodic Nguta Waljilpa which features beautiful instrumentation. As the majority of the songs are slow-paced and almost gentle in execution, this album is often both relaxing and tantalisingly haunting. Down The River, for example, burns slowly yet packs an emotive punch and sounds as if it could slip neatly into PJ Harvey’s repertoire.
Yamma and co. pick up the pace on the rockier Calling Your Name which manages to be both edgy and highly melodic. Yamma’s soulful performance and the band’s understated yet high-impact delivery ensures that Countryman is an absorbing and immensely moving listening experience.
