AMERICANA-UK.COM (Liverpool UK) (August 31, 2001)

http://www.americana-uk.com/html/reviews.html

Doug Hoekstra - Album - "Around the Margins" (2001)  4 out of 5 stars

Doug Hoekstra might be a relatively new name to people in the UK, but he's been around for over seven years now - and "Around the Margins" is his first studio album proper since 1999. Not having heard his previous material yet,
what does come through immediately is the amount of thought and effort put not just into the songwriting itself (although any of the songs could stand up well with just an acoustic guitar) but into the whole project of the album - the arrangements, the production, the instrumentation...

Opening with the hazy fuzz and samples of "Margins," it's clear from the beginning that you're not listening to a straightforward album of Americana, but then in comes "Lost Among the Ruins" with its crisp vocals and prolific guitar, sounding very much like some of The Go-Between's Grant McLennan's best material (Indeed much of the album recalls the perfect "Horsebreaker Star" by McLennan - Hoekstra's voice is very similar and the female vocals play the same key roles) The album goes on to alternate in a variety of styles - gospel, pop and folk - some more palatable than others depending on your taste, but it's never less than gripping and some of the lyrics are frankly brilliant - "If words are only words, revelation or cliché, Then actions are
the meter of a heart that beats in pain" ("Birmingham Jail") All that, plus the second best song called "Desdemona" ever written (thank you Paul Kelly...) makes it a discovery you can't resist making - that's if you haven't already.

(Mark Whitfield)

Return to Press