Herald rating:* * *
(Long Road)
Review: Graham Reid
This excellent selection of traditional Anglo-Irish folk tunes - mostly narratives or morality tales - is rearranged and delivered with pristine purity by local singer Young. She is at her best on the melancholy, memento mori material, notably Vanished in the Snow, the more gutsy material (Fair Maid on the Shore) and the lovely Irish plainsong of Gabhaim Molta Bride.
Young sounds less convincing when the material has a sprightly step, because she delivers everything with the same well-enunciated precision, even when a bit of, dare we say reckless, emotional enthusiasm might have been more appropriate.
Otherwise, on this obvious labour of love and beautifully played album (Alan Young on guitar, Linda Willings on fiddle, and others) there's mercifully not a hey-nonny-no in earshot which - for those like me living with folk-aversion syndrome - makes this something with brains and heart, even if it does sometimes sound like an elocution lesson.
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