Bird's Nest

Their 2012 debut Waterbound and self-titled second album from two years later were both judged ‘Instrumental Album of the Year’ at the Western Canadian Music Awards and Canadian Folk Music Awards, with the group themselves also acclaimed as ‘Ensemble of the Year’. So the bar has been set pretty high for this third album from the Vancouver Island-based ensemble with a self-proclaimed mission ‘to expand the rhythmic, harmonic and structured arrangement style’ of the many folk genres they play, using only string instruments.

This time around, Karrnnel Sawitsky, Trent Freeman and Ivonne Hernandez, who all contribute fiddle and viola, with Eric Wright on cello, have opted to focus on original music with a few traditional tunes thrown into the mix. The intricacy and delicacy of their arrangements and the sheer fire of their playing – plus their apparent determination to leave no traditional fiddle style unshaken, whether it's from Canada or around the world – is a potent combination. It delivers a plethora of thrilling moments, right from the outset of an ambitious and absorbing collection.