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At times I am reminded of Dave Evans’ play- ing. There’s harmonica on some tracks plus a little keyboard and harmony vox on a few, but mostly it’s solo Duffy. The music is still blues-ish, a touch jazz-ish, but more thought- ful and less manic than 40 years ago.
There were a few original songs amongst his early recordings, little gems like Lily and Mary, Open the Door but this album is mostly original work. The songs are still lyrically spare but very striking; there are lines that immediately created earworms, like “I want to sleep so late till my dreams are sweet again” from Sweet Again and “There’s noth- ing in between the lines but spaces” from Spaces. The latter is a bleak account of receiv- ing a ‘Dear John’ letter and is currently my favourite track. It was recorded back in 1996 for an album project that was never complet- ed and features Dick Heckstall-Smith playing plaintive saxophone that perfectly comple- ments a voice full of desolation.
The voice – ah, that voice! Husky, melod- ic and powerful, it can be world-weary, pas- sionate, and melancholic by turns. I never tire of listening to it.
There are a few non-originals – Let’s Go
Home, the decidedly raunchy Big Legged Rosie and a delightful re-working of Secret Love, a song I remember from Kathy Kirby singing it on, ahem, Alan Freeman’s Pick Of The Pops.
I know already that it’s going to join that select band of CDs that I listen to again and again. A real beauty. You can hear Sweet Again on this issue’s fRoots 40 compilation.
www.duskfire.co.uk Maggie Holland
KATHRYN ROBERTS & SEAN LAKEMAN Hidden People Navigator 072
Both artists already boast impressive pedi- grees: Kathryn from the first BBC Young Folk Awards, the duo with Kate Rusby and folk supergroup Equation, whereas Sean has been in constant demand as musician and produc- er, latterly touring with brother Seth’s band. But Kathryn and Sean have in effect been ‘hidden people’ on the folk scene, and this new album marks their re-emergence as a per- forming unit after six years of family-raising. It’s their third duo album, and shows just how much their music has moved on, now daringly parading a mixture of experiment and confi- dence in a collection of (mostly) self-penned songs that, while at times referencing dark folk traditions, are anything but gloomy and depressing in their forthright, bright impact.
Kathryn’s rich-toned, agile voice, with its miraculous range, is the rightful focus, some- times husky and sultry and sometimes soaring resplendent, whereas the instrumental back- drops she and Sean conjure between them are expertly managed and often surprisingly lush. Kathryn plays piano, keyboards, flute and woodwind, while Sean takes care of all things string. Sometimes they also call upon brothers Sam and Seth, or a rhythm section (Ben Nicholls, Iain Goodall). Four of the disc’s ten tracks employ additional vocals from, var- iously (among others), Caroline Herring, Cara Dillon, Stu Hanna, Dave Burland, Mark Chad- wick and Jim Moray. Musically, Hidden People is a diverse set, and one that on first acquain- tance perplexes as much as it beguiles. A cap- pella opening track Huldra pits Kathryn’s seductive invocation of a mythical Scandina- vian being against unearthly harmonies from a trio of female voices, after which aural cleansing the world-rock backbeat of the retelling of a spooky legend from upstate New York (Oxford) couldn’t feel more of a contrast. Kathryn’s gift for storytelling remains in full flight throughout, notably on
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