The Dovetail Trio
Bold Champions
(GR Records)
★★★★

The Dovetail Trio — Rosie Hood, Jamie Roberts and Matt Quinn — have been performing traditional English folk songs since 2014, touring folk clubs and festivals and building a reputation for powerful live performances.

Their second album brings together traditional songs recorded in a single room to give the listener a flavour of their live performances and it certainly gives that impression.

Exploring all the common themes of folk, both tragic and joyous,  the songs capture the storytelling of a bygone era with themes still relevant today.  

Noteworthy is The Wreck of The Northfleet,  based on the true story of a sailing accident but, as with any album of traditional songs, there’s happier subject matter. The Light Dragoon is a seduction song, where unusually for songs of the past, the woman makes all the moves.

Hopefully there'll be further albums from this talented trio.

Danny Pedlar and Greg Russell
Field and Dyke
(PRS/MCPS)
★★★★★

GREG RUSSELL is developing  a reputation as one of the most talented young folk performers around and his latest venture sees him team up with folklore historian and musician Danny Pedlar in an album arising from an oral history project  based on interviews about the history and culture of the fenland district of South Holland in Lincolnshire.

Incorporating spoken dialogue from some of the participants, the album mixes a traditional folk sound alongside the rhythms of machines from local factories in songs which explore the feelings of people living and working in the area.

Opening track  Down and Deeper spins a narrative of the different routes of immigration to the fens and is followed by Poverty Knock Retold,  an updated version of the traditional song about industrial life.

Ready Hands continues the theme of immigration with a plea to aim displeasure at the source of harm rather than fellow workers and Water Makes This Land looks at how water has shaped the area both past and present.

With Russell’s fine vocals and Pedlar’s accordion playing, this is a great album which follows in the tradition of Ewan MacColl and Peggy Seeger’s Radio Ballads in giving a voice to a community experiencing change.

Edgelarks
Feather
(Dragonfly Roots)
★★★★

DEVON duo Philip Henry and Hannah Martin have been making “world music from the West Country” since 2010.

Now known by the name of Edgelarks, their fifth studio album is billed as “bright songs for dark times” with a collection of 10 aiming to provide hope in a troubled period.

With the exception of Spencer The Rover, a cheerful number about wandering, the songs are all self-penned by the duo in the style of traditional folk songs with themes of mystery and contentment.

Back From Hope was inspired by the radio ballad John Axom but continues the story, with his wife reminiscing about their happy marriage.  

Time Away is a song about the importance of holidays and Growing is based on a true story from Sweden about a lost and found wedding ring.

Perhaps the best song is Wander, about lives shaped and sometimes displaced by capitalism, but also with a theme of belonging and welcome.

It’s rare to find a folk album with no tragic songs but nobody should feel short-changed by this omission — this is an enjoyable collection.