Awake

There are some beautiful songs opening the second album by this folk duo, building on the impact of their debut set, 2016's Before the Sun. Singer and guitarist Sanders teamed up with The Willows’ dobro player following her beautiful solo debut, Charms Against Sorrow, and the pair's close harmonies and strong lead voices are further developed on this set, that mixes more traditional pieces with originals, including the three striking tracks ‘Selkie Song’ and ‘I Met a Man’, both drawing on a rich loam of folklore and myth, and a Woody Guthrie song first recorded by Billy Bragg, ‘Way Over Yonder in a Minor Key’.

Savage's guitars and dobro are beautifully captured, once again, by Grammy-nominated Canadian producer David Travers-Smith at Toronto's FoundStudio and, once again, there is stellar double-bass work from Jon Thorne, while guest Burke Carroll provides some haunting pedal steel, and Travers-Smith adds subtle horns and organ. Sanders’ pure voice and Savage's own husky, lived-in vocals carry all these songs very well, but there are guest vocals from the groups Gilmore & Roberts and Oh Susannah on the rollicking, banjo-led ‘Santa Fe Trail’. Perennial folk favourite ‘Reynardine’ gets a wolfish makeover and the excellent cover art features striking imagery from the AE Waite Tarot. Listeners will be happy to be woke to Awake.