Reviewed by Lins Honeyman

The 2013 documentary film A Place At The Table turned the spotlight on the fact that 49 million Americans don't know where their next meal is coming from despite the USA possessing ample resources to nutritiously feed each and every one of its citizens. Accompanying the film was a collection of atmospheric and brooding pieces put together by legendary producer T Bone Burnett and the Civil Wars - the celebrated but now disbanded American folk duo that consisted of John Paul White and Joy Williams - which were then released as an original soundtrack recording. For the most part, the trio offer up fairly abstract pieces with the likes of "I Do Exist" consisting of a simple but effective chord progression without too much embellishment whilst the opener "Mississippi Delta" is a moody slide guitar piece that evokes the tone and seriousness of the film's subject matter perfectly. Only the tentatively hopeful dustbowl song "Long Time Gone" (featured twice) and the stirring "Finding North" contain vocals but the calibre of sparse but beautiful instrumentals like "Barbie At The Bodega" and "Getting Worse" make this a worthwhile companion to a film of great importance.

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