Reviews

Forget Ferlinghetti. Scrap Kerouac!
The cover won me over immediately. The lyrics overwhelmed me. This CD is a saga. What an incredible outpouring of creative energy from Swales! I'm still digesting it. It's an amazing dose of contemporary folk that will have some folkies choking on their cappuccinos! Many baby boomers out there are lamenting the passing of those 60's protest songs and the lameness of today's folk lyrics. Well I suggest you let Penelope Swales introduce you to the human condition of the new millennium. Monkey Comfort! Are you up to the challenge? Put down that book on Linguistics by Chomsky. Forget Ferlinghetti. Scrap Kerouac! Get this CD and start reading the lyrics sheet instead.

If you came through unscathed after seeing all that the Adelaide Fringe had on offer this year then you should be right with this CD!

Not sure what track to highlight from this double CD. Call back later ...I'm still overwhelmed.
David Stoeckel.

"This latest CD "Monkey Comfort" is the best that I have heard from Penelope Swales. A double CD well worth trying, you will not be disappointed. My tracks "Limestone" and Antarctica", but to understand what songwriting is all about "Farewell Margaret"

The outstanding Penelope Swales was once asked to name a product she might be willing to endorse.
She replied "Composting toilets."

This independent singer-songwriter is passionate about the environment. And social justice, greed, corruption, genetic engineering and a heap of things you may expect of a contemporary folk artist.

What sets her apart is a compelling performing talent, honed over a decade or so of playing concerts and festivals around the world, and a wicked sense of humour to match her frankness.

The exuberant Swales is a great acoustic guitarist, bold songwriter and spectacular vocalist in the style of Ani Di Franco or Michelle Shocked.

Here she delivers 16 gems, a stunning tour of moods and emotions not only for the folkies. Swales has enough power to touch anyone.

Trad And Now - The Australian-wide folk Magazine celebrating culture, community and creativity.

A double taste of some of the best writing I have heard for quite sometime. From the way that this double CD has been packaged, to the graphics and down to the actual content, shows Penelope's very professional and polished approach to her music. Very much a solo album with very little influence form other musos, although Barry Hill on Double Bass, Mal Webb just being Mal Webb, and Stephen Swales with some input, make this a product very much for the shelves/archives/home library. A fantastic blend of musical ability and writing dexterity. Well, after that statement there is nothing really to be said

Penelope Swales is a modern day Australian troubadour, a wry but passionate commentator on our small planet and the small bipeds who think they run it. She works both solo and with Totally Gourdgeous, a seriously entertaining band of top-flight musicians who play instruments fashioned from gourds made by Penelope Swales. Swales is a guitarist/singer/songwriter/luthier. Her new solo album is a formidable achievement. It signals a mature woman and an artist with a humanist eye and one with formidable courage and skill. If the personal is political then here's the proof. Monkey Comfort is very strongly tinged by our increasingly harried environmental and political state. The songs are long ballads in blank verse accompanied by strong guitar work, amplified by the use of a sampler box. 'Farewell Margaret', a sad but hopeful song about the last years of an old friend is superb. 'Natural World', featuring a nice guitar riff, moves Swales onto the environmental issues she is very concerned about. 'The Raven And The Phoenix' tells the true story of a little girl who was burned badly and especially how her mother and her loving friends looked her after. 'Limestone' is lyrical and thoughtful. Available from www.penelopeswales.com

"People like to idolise the natural world, but the natural world is just as savage as the human race."

Singer/songwriter Penelope Swales is frank, passionate and distinctly Australian...

Her double CD Monkey Comfort is an outstanding collection of songs written by Swales, plus three songs written or co-written by other people.

The lyrics (which are both complex and simple) reflect upon human nature and human experiences (both personal and political) with insight and compassion. And there are many memorable lines, some of which are almost separate stories in themselves - "The Raven and the Phoenix" (but maybe there's more dangerous scars hidden in behind many eyes); "Spit a Rat" (trust is a mixture of respect and grace. Can't be forced and it can't be faked. And I'm not gonna tell ya that I trust you are you hearing that? Not as far as I could spit a rat.); "Farewell Margaret" (What can be sadder, stranger or more poignant than the rooms in which someone has lived. What can be harder, more arrogant, or more necessary than to clean those rooms out to make way for other lives).

An interesting thing about Swales' rhythmic tunes is that, while they aren't necessarily recallable individually, there is a distinct Swales sound and once a tune starts it is instantly recognisible. And, of course, the songs are only part of the story - go to any Penelope Swales concert and you will find most songs or song-cycles accompanied by a spellbinding spoken-word introduction.

One of the bonuses of the album is the sound captured by engineer/producer Siiri Metsar, whose work with Swales stretches back nearly a decade (the Girl Zone - One compilation and Swales' Returning on Foot).

In addition to Swales - on guitar, beatbox (vocal percussion), stompbox and sampling pedal - support on the album includes Barry Hill on double bass and Swales' Totally Gourdgeous colleague Mal Webb on gourd bass and beatbox.

Penelope Swales is the archetypal troubadour, an impassioned Melbourne singer-songwriter who, guitar in hand, performs music that should probably be heard live for it's full force to be appreciated. But as she's busy touring elsewhere most of the time (next stop the United States), most of us will experience this new, self produced double CD at home. Her percussive solo guitar is backed principally by Barry Hill's booming double bass, and the 16 powerful tracks range from whimsical to lusty explorations of nature - human and animal - laced with street-smarts. In her teens, Swales was a homeless busker; now she is a performer-cum-raconteur on songs such as Natural World - part celebratory, part cautionary - contrasting with the sensual delights of Physical World or the downright distrustful Spit a Rat.

The Midnight Oil of females has just returned in a pickup truck loaded with
the matches.
Zabadak Magazine, France

Obviously talented....an Australian cross between Ani Di franco and Michelle
Shocked
Folk Roots magazine, England

"Amazing" is one adjective that springs to mind. As well as her envious
acoustic mastery and incredible and beautiful vocal range, Penelope's stage
prescence and communication with her audience simply amplified her
performance.
Rave Magazine, Brisbane

She is one of the handful of performers capable of consistently pulling
large crowds to shows and is in high demand on the festival circuit
Byron Shire News, NSW

Penelope Swales has definitely found her ouwn distinct sound. The songs are
rhythmically strong, and the lyrics are intelligent and a fair few steps
left of centre.
On the Streets, Sydney

Penelope Swales is one of those performers that can simply stop the heart,
wring the soul, lighten the spirit and invite comment... Described
internationally as an acoustic guitar wiz, she stylistically swims somewhere
around the islands known as Tracy Chapman and Michelle shocked.
Beat Magazine, Melbourne

The audience was delighted with Penelope's great stories as well as the
strength of her vocals and the depth of her lyrics. With great humour she
'tells it like it is'
Db magazine, Adelaide

Swales has made a name for herself as a passionate, intelligent and
committed performer who knows how to entertain a crowd.
The Herald Sun, Melbourne

UK audiences have appreciated the political nature of her songs, even though
they may not have experienced Australian life for themselves.
Southern Cross Lifestyle, England.

Swales is noted for her spellbinding songwriting and her frank, passionate
and distinctively Australian songs.
Rhythms Magazine, Australia

From the Streets of Melbourne to the streets of London, Penelope Swales is
confronting the world with her brand of folk. She wants to relieve us of our
apathy and, in the process get us interested and informed on all sorts of
issues.
TNT Magazine, London.

1st man: "What kind of music's this?"
2nd man: "I dunno.......But I like it!"
Audience members - Goulburn Blues Festival