Olympia-based folk duo
the Lowest Pair follow up their 2014 debut with the lovely
Sacred Heart Sessions, which was recorded over the course of two days at an old cathedral in Duluth, Minnesota. Still relying on a minimal setup of two voices and two banjos with occasional guitar accompaniment,
Kendl Winter and
Palmer T. Lee offer a sophomore set that is similar to their debut in both style and tone, but is sonically worlds away. This is truly a case where a room can make all the difference. Their voices and instruments bounce wildly around the vast hall, giving the whole affair an expansive aural thrust that transforms their intimate style into something ultimately more austere. It's like they plugged into a giant natural amplifier and, in doing so, subtly shifted how they approached their performances. The material itself is a continuation of the rustic, folksy duet style from their first album, though this time around there are far more co-written pieces and there's an added sense of collaboration from simply playing and touring together for most of 2014. While not a major stylistic leap,
the Lowest Pair have definitely upped their game on
The Sacred Heart Sessions. ~ Timothy Monger