The Junipers – “Red Bouquet Fair”
“don’t get too deep or your head starts to crack”
I first discovered this wonderful pop/psych band in 2008 from a tip by an Audities member (online group). It was an album called “Cut your Key,” and a very exciting discovery. Switch to June 2016, and I read a review in Big Takeover by Elizabeth Klisiewicz of “Red Bouquet Fair.” She called it “enchanting, delightful, magical, and incandescent.” Without hesitation, I purchased it. Her praise was enough for me.
Don’t know a lot about them. They are from Leicester England. Joe Wiltshire composes the songs and Robyn Gibson is the lead singer. The music reflects their love for the early British groups like the Beatles and the Zombies. And that music is a lovely mix of pop with psychedelic accents, and beautiful vocal harmonies. The opening title cut is an instrumental with a sitar and banjo in the mix. Key cuts:
- The swirling psych “Burning Pages”
- The chiming guitar highlighting “Like A Merry Go Round” “Chase the shadows as they break on the ground in the fading light”
- The folk guitar and heavenly harmonies on “When the bird has flown”
- Classic Beatles-like piano-driven “The Old Man Mini Suite”
- My favorite track, the layered harmonies on “Summer Queen” “She’d be the summer queen no more than she deserves it’s been her lifelong dream…” So Beautiful!
The album ends with the appropriate “Say Goodbye” and more Beatles inspired vocals.
This is a classic pop album and deserves to be discovered by fans of The Beatles, The Left Bank, or Midlake. I got lucky and found it.
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