September draws to close giving hints of winter about to hit us – so turn up the heating and kick back for a while for a roundup of some of the folk related songs that have come the way of Americana UK just recently. it is, as ever, a mixed bag – starts out looking like we’ll be having an Irish theme, then a sudden swerve into a Candian groove before finishing up with one of the more neglected instruments available.
Maria Kelly‘s latest single ‘Slump‘ is scarily relatable. It’s the Irish indie musician’s second release this year, following up on her 2021 debut album. Speaking of the song she has said: “‘Slump’ felt like the right place to begin when thinking about how to roll out this next project. It captures a starting point—finding myself, once again, at the beginning of a mountain to climb, with no real will to climb it. It began on guitar, but once Matt and I got to the studio, it felt like the lyrics required more humour in the sound. It landed in this funny twee universe that I think pokes fun at that self-deprecating space we can all find ourselves in.”
There’s no such hesitation on ‘Liffeyside’, taken from the new album ‘Hydra‘ from Nuala Kennedy & Eamon O’ Leary. Sure, the mood is relaxed but the passage of night to day is nothing to have trepidation about – each day is clearly to be embraced, and the certainty of another night is to be welcomed. The album reflects on the hand of fate which guided the pair from a remote village in the Austrian Alps to a tiny island in Greece. ‘Liffeyside’ is the work of the long time musical collaboration and world wanderers, Irish traditional singer and musician Nuala Kennedy and Dubliner / New Yorker singer songwriter Eamon O’ Leary but you may just detect Anais Mitchell who sings backing vocals alongside Will Oldham and Cathal McConnell of the Boys of the Lough.
Moving away from Ireland, and travelling to the West we next find ourselves in the company of Québécois folk band Club Débris. Only, that’s not quite right – actually we need to travel to the East, to London town in fact where we find a mixed group of instruments and their players all dedicated to the liveliest of music from the province of Québéc even though all the musicians hail from either England or Scotland. Of particular note on ‘Marche des Élèves / Peas Breakdown‘ is the percussive prowess of Jess Collins – that’s her feet you can hear a-tapping. This tune is taken from the group’s debut album ‘Ricochet.’
We stay in Canada for the next offering in this roundup – Craig Robertson has a new album ‘Running The Other Way’ the fifth since his debut release a decade ago. The Cambridge, Ontario resident makes acoustic music that sits astride the folk/singer-songwriter categories, and he says of the newest release “I feel like I’ve hit a stride I haven’t hit before – I released two albums during the pandemic and that helped me hone my creative process, my writing, and how to put it all together at my studio. This album sounds more like me than any other project I’ve done.” The song ‘Nest and Hide‘ exemplifies this as it draws heavily on Robertson’s recollections of his mother: “I wrote ‘Nest And Hide’ specifically about my Mom. She was terrified of birds, loved Elvis, Hitchcock movies and magazines. It’s all in the song.””
We actually recently reviewed the reissue of Dorothy Carter‘s album ‘Troubadour,‘ but do you have any idea dear folk inclined reader just how rare it is to get any hammer dulcimer music coming across the review desk these days? It is very rare. And what a beautiful shimmering sound it is, joined here by Sally Baker’s tamboura. It’s truly otherworldly.
And that’s it for another month – except for the classic folk track of course. And, to be very self indulgent let’s have another hammer Dulcimer player, the great Jim Couza. An American who relocated to England, and who I was lucky enough to see just once way back in the 1980s somewhere in Norfolk. Somewhere, but definitely in a pub.
