Music Review: Water or Gold, Hollie Smith

Mature is a word that too often gets a bad rap.

The real meaning of the word actually denotes a positive outcome. So, 17 years after she won the Best Vocalist Award at 1999's National Jazz festival, aged just 16, Hollie Smith can be well pleased with the descriptive musical maturity which comes with her new release Water or Gold.

The mid-2000s were good years for Hollie, firstly with her spine-tingling-good interpretation of Don McGlashan's Bathe in the River, and then her double platinum second album Long Player.

Water or Gold then is album No3 and Hollie Smith can take a bow, because it's a record of many must-listen shapes and colours.

The title track grabs you as we launch into a funked up composition that gives all Hollie's musical collaborators a high energy workout.

Water or Gold though has many moods, moving smoothly across the soul and jazz soundscapes, with sass and originality.

At times, like on Lead the Way, a rock feel takes hold, while her testament to her best friend, the late Helena McAlpine, is a very personal song, spare and emotional, swelling to gospel-ish finish.

Older Younger is yet another mood shift, confirming that 2016's Hollie Smith is no one-dimensional songstress. She wrote most of the material on Water or Gold.

Mention must be made of the musicians who contributed to this cohesive sounding contemporary album. Marika Hodgson on bass, Darren Mattiassen on drums and percussion, Darren Hayes keys, Jol Mulholland and Mike Fabulous on guitars and a classy horn section of Lex French, Andre Paris and Daniel Hayles.

Hollie is on the road with a Water or Gold tour.