GOOD HABITS + BILLIE MAREE
FRIDAY 17 MAY 2024, CHRIST CHURCH DOWNEND.
Sometimes folk music can take itself a bit seriously. There are a lot of drowned sisters and poisoned knights, lots of murder and longing. It’s a bit of a relief, then, when a duo like Good Habits come along. They are full of sunshine and stories, full of friendliness and fun. They blossom like dungaree-clad sunflowers.
Bonnie Schwarz and Pete Shaw formed during a time when they were “happily stranded” in New Zealand over lockdown. What started as an impromptu tour became a two-year hiatus where songs were written, gigs were played and a formidable duo emerged. They return to Downend as they tour their brilliant new album Quarter Life, and effortlessly charm the whole place.
In truth it would be pretty hard to argue that what Good Habits do is “folk”, in the strictest sense. There are no songs of death, instead Schwarz and Shaw shine their jazz-y, pop-y sunlight on songs of love, of vague uncertainty, of small earthquakes. They also play some wonderfully inventive covers too, and there’s not a trad.arr amongst them.
The joy that Good Habits bring is most obvious in the cover versions that they choose. Each is delivered with love and a “hey look at this” wide-eyed wonder. Kate Bush’s Running Up That Hill is, simply, lovely, a swooning, languid take on something that swoons already.
Sharing the Good Habits’ love of a jumpsuit/dungaree thing is Billie Maree, a singer of “folk-y-ish songs” about friendship and humanity that have a slightly more wintery feel than the sunshine which will follow. A Devonian singer-songwriter with a glorious voice, Billie Maree inspires absolute pin-drop attention. On Whale Eyes, their voice is deep and meditative, a simple acoustic line tracing countless strands back to Celtic folk traditions. On My Body, My Home the contemporary is, again, mixed with the traditional and it’s Billie Maree’s voice that will live long in the memory.
In a world that can feel a bit bleak some days, Good Habits exist to spread some sunshine. They were very welcome indeed.
Words: Gavin McNamara
Photo: Chris Dobson