Momentum

The third album from these three Flemish brothers finds them building impressively on the success of previous offerings Modus Operandi from 2013 and 2015's well-received Parachute, where they seamlessly blended Flemish traditional music with their own tunes written within the structures of such dance rhythms such as the bourrée, jig, waltz and mazurka. They have clearly gained in confidence from playing outside their native territory at folk festivals around Europe and Canada as well as at Bury's estimable English Folk Expo. But the essential difference this time around seems to be that Koen Dhoore on hurdy-gurdy, Hartwin Dhoore on diatonic accordion and Ward Dhoore on acoustic guitar and mandolin have added vocals to their offering, with words contributed by one ‘M Hauman.’ I can’t say that hearing the trio sing ‘Eb & Vloed’ has taught me any more about the catastrophic flooding of Flemish village Walraversijde than I knew previously; nonetheless, the vocals are indicative of an imaginative desire to keep pushing their music forward beyond their undoubted technical excellence.