The Amelia Earhart of alt folk in full flight…
A former RAF pilot celebrating the “beautiful feminine energy” of old school glamour icons such as Katharine Hepburn and Ginger Rogers, there may be a danger that Carr’s intriguing back story could distract from her actual music. Presenting herself as a kind of alt folk burlesque Vera Lynn, her wartime obsessions peppered across these 12 tracks, she performs an admirable balancing act between novelty and creativity.
Her third album hones the sound she’s been working on since the turn of the century, initially fronting a group winsomely called The Aviators. Each song appears as a self-contained short story, such as her tribute to Auschwitz survivors (Kommander’s Car) or star-crossed lovers escaping to a better life (Violetta).
If all this sounds a tad mannered or contrived, fret not. Carr’s choice of instrumentation on each of her vignettes perfectly suits the subject matter, especially the Berlin cabaret accordions and violins of the teasingly saucy Erotic Days. She may have built a fanciful world around her work, but there’s quality and substance lurking beneath the surface.

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