Fallow Ground

Spiers & Boden have had a defining role in 21st-century British folk, from their early years with Eliza Carthy's Ratcatchers, as the original building blocks of the mighty Bellowhead, and in their own right. Both have had busy solo and band careers since The Works (2011), which itself was a celebration of a decade's collaborations. Ten years on, they return with Fallow Ground, a reference to having put their duo work out to grass, but also a reference to the impact COVID-19 has had on live music. Unlike the guest-bestrewn 2011 release, Fallow Ground features Spiers & Boden alone, just voice, fiddle, melodeon and concertina. It opens with gems from Peter Bellamy – a huge influence on Boden and whose spirit can be heard in the dramatic range of Boden's vocal techniques. The songs are interspersed with tune sets comprising lost morris numbers, Cornish dances, stalwarts from Playford's The Dancing Master of 1651, and a few self-penned pieces, including the lovely closer ‘Bailey Hill / Wittenham Clumps’. Among the songs, a standout is ‘Reynardine’, with its inexorable narrative dragged like a pelt over the circling tune they bring to the table. This is an album that goes in deep and brings out riches aplenty.