Tidings

Tidings opens with ‘Two Magicians’, a traditional song in which a woman, to escape the sexual advances of a blacksmith, shapeshifts, becoming a duck. But the ‘lusty smith’ turns himself into a drake; she becomes a hare, he a greyhound; she a ewe and he a ram… and he gets her. This is an ancient drama – in Vedic scripture this is how the animals of the world were created. It's a surprising choice, perhaps, for the opening track of the debut album by a quartet of four young women from Yorkshire. Polly Bolton (mandolin), Sarah Smout (cello), Bella Gaffney (vocals) and Holly Brandon (fiddle) give a vigorous account of it. Gaffney also writes and ‘No More Tears’ is an expression of female autonomy as well as loss – a fine break-up song.

The filigree of Bolton's mandolin picking works well over the smooth depth of the cello, and some of the best tracks are instrumentals. ‘Foss Island’ begins with quiet stateliness, but takes you somewhere windswept and wild… an island off the Atlantic coast of Ireland, perhaps. No, Foss Islands is a retail park in York. There is a Celtic tinge to The Magpies’ music in the lovely ‘Galway Shawl’, a song of musical meeting and parting. And there's bluegrass and Americana with ‘Rock of Ages’. They play and sing with verve, expertise and enjoyment. I'd like to see them live.