Declaration

Favourites on the Australian folk circuit, it's been eight years since Kate Burke and Ruth Hazleton's last recording, Summer's Lonesome Tale. They have been off raising families, and this long-awaited new release is most welcomed. Beautifully produced by Shooglenifty's Luke Plumb, who also contributes mandolin and bouzouki, the material is predominantly drawn from British and American sources, dating as far back as the 17th century for the tune ‘Queen of Hearts’. A female perspective on Cornish emigration is provided in ‘Dean Younk a Gernow (Young Man of Cornwall)’, while the most fascinating American song here is the Alan Lomax-collected ‘white spiritual’ ‘Father Adieu’. Elsewhere the mixed American/Scottish/Irish origins of ‘Katy Cruel’ are intriguing, and the inclusion of Bob Dylan's ‘Lay Down Your Weary Tune’ connects across the centuries and cultures.

Australian poet John Shaw Neilson's work is represented by the title-track, and both women also contribute one original song each – Hazleton's modern lament ‘Hearts of Sorrow’, and Burke's ‘The Freeze’, inspired by an Annie Proulx short story. With interwoven vocals supported by their own exemplary guitar and banjo fingering, Declaration may tread on well-worn traditional paths, but it does so in a delightfully light-footed and contemporary manner.