Through That Sound (My Secret Was Made Known)

A seagull's head on dancer's legs – not at all disturbing or Hieronymous Bosch-like – is artist Kirsty Whiten's cover image for Eliza Carthy's full-throated album of new and recovered self-penned songs, put to disc with Fife-based composer, musician, songwriter and producer Ben Seal. Few contemporary folk songwriters have Carthy's visceral powers of characterisation, evoking situations and stories that ring loud and true, and these are all big story songs with contrasting musical textures and a penchant for cabaret art-song, from the 1950s style of the album's one cover, the standard ‘Mean to Me’, through to the spare electric keyboard opening that guides the confessional, searching ‘Surrender (Fallow)’. Through That Sound provides a big, brassy full-band sound from first to last, featuring keyboardist Phil Alexander, Pete Furniss on bass clarinet, a string quartet, bassist Rick Standley, and drummer Willy Molleson, whose work throughout is outstanding and varied. ‘The Black Queen’ is dedicated to her aunt Lal Waterson, ‘The Lute Girl’ draws its tale from 1001 Nights, while ‘Neptune (In the Stars Wants His Bloody Pound of Fish)’ is drawn from the shoal of songs that went into Dreams of Breathing Underwater and Neptune, the latter one of her strongest sets of original songs, which this new set matches.