Ked’ Vojačik Narukoval

I love the design of this album. With its distressed sleeve and retro typography, it looks like something I might have picked up in a secondhand market in Banská Bystrica 20 years ago. It contains 15 ballads sung by Zuzana Homolová, one of Slovakia's most respected singers. Her trio also includes Samo Smetana (of Banda) on violin and vocals and Miloš Železňák on guitars and other instruments. Guests provide various pipes and percussion and even singer Iva Bittová pops up on one track.

Homolová has a clear, bell-like voice that sounds better in the more acoustic arrangements, less so with the electric guitar. The male vocals are rugged, rough and ready to create the impression of an ordinary soldier, but make tough listening. Most of the lyrics are derived from World War I (the title translates as ‘When the Solider Was Drafted’) and it's great to have translations and notes about where and when the songs were collected.