The Dutchess and the Duke - She's the Dutchess, He’s the Duke

Show

Morning Magazine,

Presenter

Shannon Fox

Published

Wednesday 30th July

Imagine yourself sitting in a circle of barefoot bohemians, one strumming a guitar, the rest clapping and singing along… That’s “She’s the Dutchess, He’s the Duke”.

Sitting firmly in the sixties, The Dutchess and The Duke are reminiscent of Peter, Paul and Mary and wouldn’t have been amiss at the Newport Folk Festival alongside Joan Baez, Bob Dylan and Donovan.

Opening track “Reservoir Park” introduces the unexpectedly dark themes of death and cloudy days and spices them up with tales of fortune telling gypsies. It begs for one more chorus, just so you can keep singing along! “Out of Time” slows the pace but carries on the storytelling, with a pistol wielding Cuban and prostitutes. Shadows style guitars appear in “The Prisoner” which sees The Dutchess and The Duke wail about nightmares. Sharing gravelly voices, their harmonies are unexpected and make shared vocals palatable, even delicious!

Imperfect, yet faultless, this album will be on high rotation in your CD player, though a turntable would be more fitting. It might even get you playing the jug!