Country duo The Young Fables (Laurel Wright and Wesley Lunsford) release a strong and promising debut album which is firmly pitched at the full blooded country fan. There is a comfortably familiar feel to their music, from Lunsford's fingerpicking style guitar licks to Wright's glorious Tennessee vocal twang. Their songs are filled with the traditional country themes of love, heartbreak and hometowns, but it's this simplicity which has made the genre endlessly relatable and enduring.
Tracks like Better Hand and I Love Him Too are bitter-sweet but blessed with wonderful lyrical sentiments and show a maturity to their work that you rarely find outside of Nashville circles. Let us be clear, these rising stars of the country world start young. Wright was the youngest person (aged 16) to win a national competition for an original song and Lunsford was more of a rocker until he discovered a love of country music whilst playing in China! The two got together when Lunsford was asked to step in to back Wright for a show and their incendiary blend of old school country music and a speckling of stylish and graceful electric guitar.
Living up to their name, The Young Fables create some charming and toe-tapping modern style story songs. The Better Hand is a clever and heartfelt country ballad to start things off. Worse, a moralistic tale about papering over the cracks with self-medication brings the songs into modern reality. The songs that have a romantic overtone, like September and A Lifetime is where the band really excel. Their soaring vocals are matched with soft and tender harmonies that get right to the heart of the song's subject ever time. Two is an endearing debut with some charming and wholesome melodies. A band well worth keeping an eye on.
Groupie Rating 3/5