Frontrunner

Frontrunner is Anglo-Hungarian Rakoczy’s horse-themed debut. From pagan creatures to racehorses, equine figures run through the album, tying together a collection of folk sounds. This is folk music that spans Celtic melodies, punk-inflected beats, a whirligig waltz and a rock’n’roll break. Sweetly sung or chanted darkly, lyrics sit on a bed of varied instrumentation: from pipes, whistle and drum, to electric guitar and bass, to barbershop-meets-hymnal backing vocals. These are, largely, a retelling of traditional tunes, along with a scattering of more recent compositions, including a Jethro Tull number and two originals. While somewhat rooted in past worlds, these folk stories offer ever-pertinent ideas for today: tales of hope and perseverance, the underdog outwitting the profiteering elite…

The record remains a little too deeply rooted in foregone traditions to feel truly fresh, and a little too neatly produced to wholly embody the radical people’s music it seems to be reaching for. Nonetheless, this debut is diverse and adventurous, full of ambitious movement in texture and approach. For those into UK folk traditions, Rakoczy is a new sound to explore; if she steps out a little further, she might become a frontrunner herself.