Warm original acoustic songs with poetic lyrics, reminiscent of the Be Good Tanyas and Simon and Garfunkel. Ember are loved for their close harmonies and melodious arrangements on Celtic fiddle, American folky guitar and ethereal cello and harp.

13 MP3 Songs
FOLK: Modern Folk, WORLD: Celtic



Details:
Ember is an exciting, young duo with a love of music and travel. Over the last five years they have journeyed and played in Spain, Ireland, Holland, Wales, Mexico and the Western U.S., often allowing the wind to blow them where it will, other times settling down for a few months to focus on crafting new tunes. The simple yet moving music grows up around the miraculous blending of two very different voices: that of Welsh songstress Emily Williams, who also soars through the mix with her violin, and sets up chunky rhythms with her nylon-strung, and that of Rebecca Sullivan of Utah, who fingerpicks a sparkling steel-strung, and breaks out the harmonica for a song or two.

Whenever possible, the duo call on Welsh cellist Emma Bryden, who brings depth to the music with her beautiful, moody strings.

NetRhythms Review, March 2006:
"Ember's previous album 'Land Under Water' has remained a firm favourite of mine ever since getting it a couple of years ago, and one of the many pleasant surprises in first listening to 'Spark' was to find that I liked this even more. Ember's third album sees them clearly going from strength to strength.

This is a tremendously impressive and enjoyable album. As before, the content is primarily songs written by the two main members - Emily Williams and Rebecca Sullivan. Their songs are consistently excellent and sometimes profoundly so, and these latest ones are some of their best to date, bursting with originality, deep emotions and fun. The beauty is not only in the songs themselves but also in the detail of the vocal harmonies and instrumentation, every bit of which seems to play a vital part in conveying the emotion of the song. There is no superfluous or mushy padding - everything is precise and essential.

Sometimes the two voices are working in conventional vocal harmony, notably in the excellent rendition of the traditional song 'Sospan Fach' as well as in sensitively selected parts of their original songs, and at other times they are each doing their own thing in a more free-form, intuitive way, interacting in a way that is 100 effective and that works according to the magical unknowns of music rather than the formal rules and structures.

As regards objective judgements on quality of vocals, instrumentation and musical arrangement this album is second to none, but most important of all is the abilty of the music and words to strike the heart and bring out the listener's emotions, from sadness to joy and laughter. This ability is a rarer quality still, and the only one that counts at the end of the day.

"Spark" is such a suitable title, thinking of the musical electricity that is so evident between the two individuals and the vital spark that is ever present".
--Written by Ian Gulley - gwerinABERfolk
http://www.netrhythms.com/reviews.html#ember

"Musically this is the finished article -- justifying the whole folk movement."
Ian Davison, Lomond Folk Festival, July '05

"Multi-instrumental virtuosity. . ."
Noiseville, Summer '04

"Songs that stay in your head for days because of their melodic charm."
Oor Magazine, Netherlands, January '03

"Simply beautiful, soul-stirring music."
Tivy-Side, Wales, November '03

"Folk with a sexy makeover."
Noiseville Magazine, Wales, Summer '03

"an enchanting discovery . . .talented musicians"
Women In Tune festival newsletter, Wales, Autumn '03