In the Dark We Grow

The folk duo’s fourth album, In the Dark We Grow, steers away from the compelling introspective spareness of 2022’s Ink of the Rosy Morning, embracing instead reverb-laden electric guitars, a rhythm section, even a silvery duet between Appalachian dulcimer and dobro – the guest list of additional players extends to double figures, with Jon Thorne, Findlay Napier and Jade Rhiannon among them. It’s a set with plenty of textures and layers to enrich the new and traditional songs, and a strong and contrasting choice of songs, too. It opens with heavy Child Ballad vibes on ‘Border Widow’s Lament’, the disturbed ambience of its opening setting the words on a dark journey, while the following ‘Castles and Old Kings’ is from the pen of the late Northumbrian artist Johnny Dickinson, to whom the album is dedicated. Richard Farina’s ‘Quiet Joys of Brotherhood’ is another highlight of what is perhaps the duo’s best album so far.