Maurice Hope – September 28, 2016 at 02:37PM
Tags:_AMERICANA
Co. Kildare-born Irish folk singer-songwriter Heidi Talbot has one of the finest and sweetest voices of the scene. While on occasions it may be a little too pure and gentle she remains at the top of her league. It is certainly a beautiful and well-measured recording, the songs were written during a spell Talbot was off the road, looking after her new born, and a period when she was sorting everything out in her head.
Here We Go 1, 2, 3 is produced by her husband, ace fiddle player and arranger Scottish John McCusker (violin, cittern, whistles, harmonium) and it has a mass of talent join them at their home studio on the Scottish borders. In support Talbot has players Innes White (guitar, mandolin), James Lindsay (double bass), James McKintosh (drums, percussion), Megan Henderson (piano, harmonium), Toby Shippey (trumpet), Andy Seward (banjo), Donald Shaw (harmonium, wurlitzer, accordion), Michael McGoldrick (Uilleann pipes, whistles), Toby Shaer (whistles), Adam Holmes (vocals), Louis Abbott (vocals, electric guitar), Su-a Lee and Sorren Maclean (backing vocals) help make the recording, one that was made over ten days sound like a real family affair.
Among those largely penned by Talbot she goes elsewhere for “Motherland” (Natalie Merchant) and for an exquisite cover of bluegrass classic “Tell Me Do You Ever Think Of Me”. Of her own songs she wrote one when her mother took sick, “Song For Rose (Will You Remember Me)” and as the accompanying notes state, its tone is far from sombre. In fact it is more graceful than anything (such the beautiful playing) you could imagine, and she includes one inspired by The Pogues and written with Duke Special, “Chelsea Piers” that enjoys a powerful, distant like feel. On the track Talbot speaks of a mellow evening spent during her time living in New York, a time when she sang with the Cherish The Ladies, performed at the White House, and longed to return to her homeland. The mood of the song is underlined by the poignant and ever so graceful playing (and singing) of guitar, double bass and fiddle. Nice one.
On lifting the tempo ever so Talbot’s “Wedding Song” registers a joyful feel, and like with “Willow Tree” it possesses a nice balance between studious and merriment. The latter has McGoldrick add, like only he can some magical notes.
“A Stranger For Me” closes the recording to a coercing arrangement of the most simple, guitar, fiddle and harmony vocals. A more soulful or finer feel of the ilk could one wish. Pure class.
Maurice Hope
—
Feed: http://ift.tt/1J7TdNm
Inoreader Page: http://ift.tt/2dl2uHT
Blog post: http://ift.tt/2cWoUMr