Album Review: Mama Kin - The Magician's Daughter

Having grown up in a large musical family then found love and built a family of her own with husband John Butler, not to mention contributing to their many social and musical business endeavours, it's little wonder WA soulstress Mama Kin – aka Danielle Cuarana – navigated her way back to a calling she was at one point ready to relinquish. Lucky for us the call was too strong and her will to ignore it subsided.

What The Magician's Daughter does so well is take all and sundry on a deeply personal journey, touching on the many age-old and universal emotional torments of loss, love and spirituality, with a suite of talented players backing her and a knack for creating a cohesive album that offers so much in just ten tracks. It basically picks up where 2010's Beat And Holler left off; there's still that nod to that earthy but pop-friendly sound but here Cuarana sets out on a more soulful journey, lyrically and sonically, from the get go. The track, Rescue, instantly takes hold, and as the opener it's hard to beat, flavoured with a steady, retro dancefloor-like beat and strummed guitar and tinkly keys, allowing her voice, which is a perfect blend of pop prettiness with a husky edge, to lilt over the top. It's a treasure, but there's more to be hunted.

Red Wood River and The Fire capture that mystical feel of the album namesake with atmospheric offbeat glock, but it's Bosom Of Our Bed and I'll Be Ready that match the great heights of the opener, both with restrained but melodic accompanying lines and the rending attack of her upper vocal notes. An enthralling and soul-pleasing listen.