Authentically fresh

Music teachers Ashlea Reale and Jenny Gaunt have spent school holidays in the studio, busily recording their second album as duo The Littlest Fox.

The folk singers, who have been performing together for more than two years, started working on the upcoming project as soon as they released their first studio album, Paper Aeroplane, in April 2012.

Gaunt said fans could expect a fresh sound.

“It’s a bit different to our other one — it has more collaboration in the songwriting and features more shared vocals,” she said. “We wanted it to be more acoustic.

“It’s a little less complicated — more grassroots.”

Reale, who teaches at Safety Bay High School, said the album steered clear of love songs which dominated the first release, instead featuring tunes about Ned Kelly, breakups, travelling and friendships.

She said the duo had adopted a true-blue Australian sound with the lagerphone featuring heavily.

“Our songwriting has definitely matured and we have gone a little more folksy this time,” she said.

The album is in production at Rough Diamond Studio in Medina and the girls have opted for analogue mastering, rather than digital, which Gaunt said gave it a “more authentic sound”.

“It feels less electric, a little more genuine,” she said.

Despite the quick turnaround in albums, the pair said songwriting had been a timely process with each bringing different ideas to the table.

The Littlest Fox will showcase some of its new songs at a family-friendly gig at Rockingham Bowls Club on Friday, November 1.

Music starts at 6.30pm.