Search - Divine Maggees :: Love Me Like the Roses

These ladies evidently put aside all little white gloves to

Indie-Music.com | 12/03/2005

(5 out of 5 stars)

"Although this dynamic duo gets plenty of Indigo Girls references, Divine Maggees certainly exhibits enough pluck and tenacity to rock their own boots. Welding childish imagery to incontestably advanced instrumentation and seasoned songwriting, these ladies evidently put aside all little white gloves to roll up their sleeves and produce an unshakable album. Leaden with multiplying sonic tiers and deliciously supple vocal harmonies, the pair's new release Love Me Like the Roses weaves effortlessly from the fast lane to the slow for some excellently plugged-in folk.



These two are remarkable not only because they have emerged with a shiningly unique album, but also because of their impressive compatability as singers, musicians and performers. Cregan Montague, a virtuoso fiddle player and violinist, and Danielle Tibedo, guitar, play in such a way that innumerable layers of sound ring gently in your ears and fit together as neatly as shapes in a well-played game of Tetris. Additionally, Montague supplies a dusky vocal reinforcement to Tibedo's honeyed, lilting voice to generate harmonies so blanketed in emotion they surface, simultaneously exuberant and wistful. Truly, any combination of the two would only prove the coupling a formidable totality.



However strong on their own, the Montague and Tibedo had some help from Chris Rosser, engineer; River Guerguerian, drums; and Eliot Wadopian, stand-up bass. Regardless, Divine Maggees managed to produce a coolly organic matrix of songs that each evoke a duality of feeling like "Trouble," which dexterously exudes soft and rebellious. They can do new or old, like the somewhat more traditional "North Carolina." Occasionally the album meanders in the direction of being a bit too folk-othodox and hackneyed, but overall maintains a level of originality unrivaled by most others.



-- Genevieve Will, Indie-Music.com"