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Ed Gorch's Knotworking is starting to look ever more like a band, as reflected on this third album's increased focus on musical interplay. Knotworking will always be defined by Gorch's songwriting, but 'The Garden Below' is equally dependent on the band's interaction with each other, the structured song arrangements and the work of lead guitarist Michael Hotter, cellist Megan Prokorym and violinist Karen Codd. Influenced by Crosby, Stills & Nash as much as by the Jayhawks, Knotworking's light-hearted melancholia and harmonic interplay even brings to mind UK's Grand Drive. However, while this is Knotworking's most sonically diverse album to date, many of the songs do tend to flow into each other, too often resembling each other structurally and melodically. Gorch is a wonderful songwriter, but the band can only benefit from even more contribution from the other members. Still, there's no reason why he will not continue to better himself with each passing album, and why Knotworking will not grow even stronger and more confident as a band. Until the next one, then, this is more than good enough for now.

Stein Haukland
CWAS #13 - Autumn 2003

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