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WHILE AND MATTHEWS 'Perfect Mistake' Fat Cat Records FATCD012

I think that I first heard of Chris While when she was in the Albions sometime in the mid nineties, and it was on the Intuition album I heard Julie Matthews, but I think she might have been in the Albions at the same time as well. Since then their careers have moved on at a fair pace being part of projects such as Daphne's Flight, St Agnes Fountain and, more recently, Blue Tapestry. They are much in demand to guest on others' Cd's and have managed to produce 5 duo albums of which Perfect Mistake is the latest. They seem to tour the world constantly, so how do they find time to write such wonderfully thought provoking songs, let alone make quality Cds Like Perfect Mistake?

I am not sure what the answer is, but I do know that they have put together, with the help of a few friends, an album which demands listening to. The words are important and cover life and issues as they see them. Sometimes this can be uncomfortable as on Generation Game or put that smile on your face, as Pass It On does. There's hope in the lyrics of "When You Think It's All Over ..", a song a lot will associate with. For me, though, it's the title track which is the outstanding one-simple words written by Julie but conveying so much meaning. Julie and Chris must work hard at the harmonies to make them sound so natural and it's good to hear a few family members supporting in this department. The Band is superb and mention must be made of Howard Lees, especially his Spanish guitar intro on Now Love Has Gone.

If you get chance go and see them live because what comes over is their obvious enjoyment of what they are doing, and the freshness they bring to their songs, something which is evident on Perfect Mistake. Recommended

Dave Beeby

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This album was reviewed in Issue 56 of The Living Tradition magazine.