Across The Borderline: More Lies

The story goes that BettySoo and Doug Cox met in late 2010 while teaching at Acoustic Alaska Guitar Camp and struck up such a friendship that despite living 2500 miles apart they have recorded a couple of albums of songs written by their friends and people they admire. They formed Across The Borderline and although it's just the two of them and their guitars (BettySoo sings most of the lead vocals) they create a sound that sounds so much bigger than two people (much like The White Stripes used to muster).

The 11 tracks on More Lies are mostly from unknown artists like Noelle Hampton and David Halley. Of the more known artists featured are a fantastic rendition of Morning Song To Sally (written by Jerry Jeff Walker, the country singer-songwriter behind Mr. Bojangles) and a couple of Woody Guthrie numbers (Vigilante Man, which brings a feminine fragility to proceedings and I Ain't Got No Home which sounds almost like an early Emmylou Harris with the whispery vocals).

Cox takes lead on only two tracks (Angel Eyes and Everybody Thinks You're An Angel) and his vibrato voice and deep tone have a Nick Cave quality to it. If Nick Cave sang more traditional country records.

The guitar playing on the record is sublime and the standout track for me is an instrumental version of George Harrison's While My Guitar Gently Weeps. Their duelling guitars compliment each other and while one is playing the standard guitar part the other is playing the vocal line. The reverb works to great effect as it brings a distinct haunting quality to the song which puts it into a completely different dimension from the original.

After listening to this album it makes you realise that distance is no excuse when it comes to keeping a relationship alive. Not even 2500 miles.

-Simon Ridley, http://www.fatea-records.co.uk/magazine/BettySoo2.html