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karinepolwart.com
Review by Jack Foster
Karine Polwart's long awaited third solo album left the
folk scene on tenterhooks for a good while as they waited
towards the end of 2007. In this humble reviewers opinion
- Polwart is one of the finest traditional singers to have
come out of Scotland since the folk revival back in the
60's, not only that, but her grasp of the tradional ballad
is mind blowing. Artists are often applauded for their ability
to write songs which sound as though they've been around
for many hundreds of years - though in most cases reviewers
possibly get slightly carried away. Her songs such as 'Follow
The Heron', 'Thaney' and 'The Dreadful End Of Marianna For
Sorcery' were responsible for lifting Malinky to legendary
status, and though she's no longer with the band, she continues
to write classic after classic.
Since leaving Malinky, her first two solo albums consisted
of a much more contemporary approach to songwriting, with
a slightly poppy edge to the albums (to the point where
Channel 4's teen soap 'Hollyoaks' picked up her song 'Maybe
There's a Road'). As a fan of her traditional work, I was
pleased to hear when she spoke to Archie Fisher on 'Travelling
Folk' in June of last year that she would be moving away
from the contemporary stuff, even if I thought she was slightly
hard on herself describing it as "ceech".
'The Fairest Floo'er' did not dissapoint, though it took
a few listenings to aquaint myself with the album. Opening
with a truly epic performance of the epic ballad 'Dowie
Dens Of Yarrow', the album is a journey through atmospheric
and emotional numbers such as 'The Death Of Queen Jane'
and 'Wife Of Usher's Well' which are extremely depressing
(but, it is folk music after all) - Polwart's strong connections
with the anti war movement can be seen in 'Will Ye Go Tae
Flanders', which tells of the propeganda which enticed so
many to sign up and fight in the trenches in the 1st World
War.
The last track on the album, 'Can't Weld A Body' is a slightly
more contemporary number, billed as a demo - it is an extremely
accomplished track which charts the downfall of industry
in Britain, the Thatcher years and the loss of the voice
of the worker, all good stuff - and a taste of what you're
likely to expect from Karine's next album, recorded at the
same time and due out in March - 'This Earthly Spell'. And
if 'Fairest Floo'er' is anything to go by, we're in for
yet another seminal album that will go down in folk history
alongside the Sandy Denny's of this world.
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