The Portage

Are there really only four fiddles on this third release from RANT? Such is the richness of sound that I was convinced I'd missed some information in the sleeve notes. I was sure there were harps or bells. There aren't! Of course the fifth member of the band is the stunning recording venue, the Mackintosh Queen's Cross church in Glasgow, designed by one young architectural trainee Charles Rennie Mackintosh. The textural clarity and warmth of sound achieved in this recording is absolutely compelling (credit to Iain Hutchison). Bethany Reid, Jenna Reid, Lauren MacColl and Anna Massie are all well-known soloists in their own right, but their affinit as a quartet shows just how closely they listen to each other and themselves, and showcases their natural instinct for developing a tune. Their dynamics are immensely sensitive to the nature of the tracks, whether in the shimmering sounds of ‘Göran Berg's/Crow Road Crof’, the heartfelt ‘Arnt Ivar's Polska’ or the spacious title-track itself, named after the Shetland village where the Reids grew up, in which you can almost hear and smell the sea.