Here we go again! Brooklyn's goth-folk duo, Charming Disaster (Ellia Bisker and Jeff Morris) are on the verge of releasing their sixth album after 2023's 'Super Natural History' on May 16th. 'The Double' explores the world that exists behind the one we know, featuring songs inspired by nature, mortality, magic, ritual, and literary genres ranging from science fiction to Victorian horror. Charming Disaster invites listeners to step across the border of an alternate reality, where spells are cast, time travel is possible, plants are taking over civilization, and vampires lurk in the shadows. Adventures in the darkness lie beyond the threshold. Let's face it, nearly anything is better than the current reality we're all forced to live in at the moment.

Opening with the low key "Black Locust" you might almost think you were hearing the Cowboy Junkies gone darkside, except for the distinctive voices of Ellia and Jeff. It's a sweet, if not particularly gripping number that picks up towards the end. More formidable is "New Moon," a neat, mid-tempo indie rocker full of urban insomnia and restlessness. The melody is a little familiar, but welcome. "Trick of the Light" is the likely spooky first single off the album as the duo balance quirkiness with commercial potential. (I could imagine this song in an episode of 'Wednesday'; it would fit perfectly.) "Time Machine" fantasizes on the "what if" factor, assuming we could go back in time. While not a bad song, "Scavengers" seems like filler and ground tread by this band before. "Beautiful Night" has a nice string arrangement, but once again, offers nothing new. Much better is "Vitriol" couching cool social commentary in coded language. Nice arrangement too. The cabaret style 3/4 time of "Haunted Lighthouse" is a dark carnival delight, most welcome at this stage of the album. "Gang of Two" is more about Ellia & Jeff's relationship than anything else, but I'm not sure following the previous song with another in 3/4 time was a great idea. More fluff than great stuff. Gardening and its fruits is the subject of "Green Things," the most rootsy track on the album for obvious reasons.

'The Double' is a good album with a few great songs on it. Some of the other folks who helped make it happen are: Don Goodwin: bass, drums, percussion, horns; Peter Bufano: piano, accordion; Mike Dobson: percussion; Kate Wakefield: cello; Stefan Zeniuk: reeds. 'The Double' also serves as a double album offer, this one being released with 'Time Ghost' (2024, a collection of tracks released as singles from 2013-2024) on vinyl only.