Darling Its Hell

"Sexy and soulful… It sent shivers up my spine… a shared pillow and oh, gosh… Fabulous for evenings, sipping away at a glass of sauvignon blanc.”
- Larry Jenkins

It's been a long time coming, but it's here.

Those two "hell” cabaret divas - the divine Miss Medlyn and Miss Dodd - have finally put a microphone where Helen's mouth is and where Penny's piano-playing fingers are, and put an album together: ”darling, it's hell”.

Described as "pillow music”, this is not their usual eclectic mix of disparate musical genres, big characters and in-your-face storytelling. Instead they deliver eleven delicious slow-burning ballads that will melt hearts, rekindle passions, spark memories.

Joined by Neil Hannan on acoustic bass, the girls give us a smooth cocktail of songs… those they seem to have made their very own - "Peel Me A Grape", "Send In The Clowns"; those they've always sung - "Summertime", "The Man I Love"; and those they've rarely sung - "Moonshine Lullaby", "I Concentrate On You".

At Stebbing's studio in Auckland, these three artists, (using old valve microphones and just feet from each other), recorded 'live'. What you hear on the album is what you would get at a gig - heaven!

Because, "darling, it's hell” has been made this old-fashioned way - no artifice, no trickery - you're close to the hesitant heart, the mischievous smile, the wistful sigh.

Love and those other catastrophes… darling, it's hell.