Folk Bitch Trio – Now Would Be A Good Time

There’s something incredibly natural and unaffected about the way Folk Bitch Trio make art. From the name down – disarming yet eye-catching – the Australia-rooted group feel original, while also being comforting and familiar. Debut album ‘Now Would Be A Good Time’ is wonderful – folk-hewn songwriting that is minimalist, while also embracing colour, it makes sure that each note counts.

Assembled as a fully unified document, the record opens with ‘God’s A Different Sword’, a soothing – yet also dark in places – hymnal that recalls First Aid Kit, or Phoebe Bridgers, yet with a dark allure all of their own. ‘Hotel TV’ revels in sensuality and guilt, the song’s subtleties unfurling over multiple listens.

A record with a shimmering surface, ‘Now Would Be A Good Time’ contains remarkable depth. Recorded in Auckland over the winter of 2024, ‘Moth Song’ has a frosted sense of enchantment, while the icy chills of ‘Cathode Ray’ permeate their glorious harmonies.

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Evocative and at times picture postcard beauty, Folk Bitch Trio laden their debut album with ideas. ‘Foreign Bird’ starts in pretty, chiming territory before ending in a wall of feedback; closer ‘Mary’s Playing The Harp’ is taped live in the studio, with the band unbricking the wall between them and their audience.

Succinct yet packed with information, ‘Now Would Be A Good Time’ finds three musicians who are bold enough to let the pieces fall where they may. Folk Bitch Trio refuse to over-think the arrangements, and this lends their music an understated intensity. Softly beguiling, the band’s debut album is frequently exceptional, containing songwriting of rare emotional power.

8/10

Words: Robin Murray

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