The five songs on this EP are simple, melodic, gently uplifting, and terribly infectious.
Al Lewis and Sarah Howells met on a tube on their way home from their own solo gigs, or so the story goes. But the pair from Wales might as well have been matched in Heaven. Elsewhere Al Lewis can sound a bit like Jack Johnson, a bit like Damian Rice, but what sets these songs apart is Sarah Howells’ effortless and breathy vocals.
There is a real coherence to Skin and Bones and a sense these two are growing together musically and developing well beyond imitation of their influences. ‘Throw Me a Line’, is the stand out track. Perhaps the most tortured one lyrically, it tells the story of serial betrayal. But the drama of the song is so subtle and beguiling that when Lewis and Howells sing the words of the chorus you feel they are standing worlds apart. Just exquisite.
Words: Jon Cheetham