Neue Gezeiten

What an inspired blend of instruments Jodelfisch have alighted upon, variously a mix of harp, accordion, clarinet, tuba or cornet, ukulele and hackbrett (German hammered dulcimer). Wielded by the Munich-based quartet, together with some rapturous vocals both individually and together in close harmony, it all makes for an album that is nothing short of gorgeous.

There are many moods and stylistic sleights of hand on Neue Gezeiten (New Tides). One moment Jodelfisch are Renaissance troubadours (‘Hoch Auf Jenem Berg’), the next hipsterishly modern (‘Wedding on Rhodos’). Their music carries both yearning – on ballad ‘Es Führt Über den Main’ – and quicksilver lightness, as on the clarinet-led, klezmer-style ‘Säkkijärven Polka’. It's joyful music-making and Europe-wide in its musical influences, with German language and Bavarian dance, Balkan spirit and Scandinavian character. The quartet's personnel is diverse too. Alongside his German bandmates Sabrina Walter, Sandra Hollstein and Vreni Hieber, Gudran Thomas makes the ensemble a quarter English. Both Walter and Hieber play the hackbrett, whose nervous, thin-stringed accompanying figures are the icing on the cake here. There is an outstanding vocal performance on wispy English ballad ‘Maid in Bedlam’, though it is not clear which of the three is singing. Nevertheless, three cheers for Jodelfisch.