Bare Knuckle

Across 20 years of playing together, Chris Stout and Catriona McKay have developed an international reputation for making striking string music. When the Shetland fiddler and Scottish harpist aren’t touring and recording together, they keep busy working solo and with other artists. Bare Knuckle, their first studio effort since 2010's White Night, is a pleasure to listen to. The opening track of this entirely instrumental album, ‘Seeker Reaper’, finds the warmth of their interplay cutting through the winter gloom. ‘Dealer in Hope’ finds Stout playing big, jagged patterns before dropping into a soft, reflective mode before firing up again as McKay snaps at her harp's strings. ‘Louise's Waltz’ is a lament for a lost friend and the gentlest tune here. ‘Moscow Rush’ is an almost dissonant celebration of the duo's experiences in Russia. Album closer (and the only non-original) is ‘Bachianas Brasileiras No 4 – Preludio’ by Brazil's most celebrated composer, Heitor Villa-Lobos. It references the duo's time in Rio and shows how Scottish and Shetland folk music can embrace influences from far away.