Wayward Daughter

‘Grey Gallito’ is a work of steamy jazz that sounds as if it was recorded in Havana. It is also an old English folk song, better known as ‘The Grey Cock’: one of the ‘night visiting songs’, in which lovers spend the night together until the man must leave when the cock crows. Eliza Carthy took a classic traditional song and re-created it completely. Yet her version remains absolutely faithful to the story and expresses the song’s essential emotions. She accomplishes this with wit and exuberance – and this is her genius. Wayward Daughter, released in celebration of Carthy’s 21 years as a professional musician, explores the different aspects of her talent across 31 tracks. It goes back to ‘I Know My Love, from Shape of Scrape, which she and Nancy Kerr recorded as teenagers. And it comes right up to ‘Britain is a Car Park’, the song from her most recent solo album, Neptune, that lambasts the British not just for allowing the asphalting of their land but for then scampering off to sunny Spain while raging and fuming about immigration. This also incorporates a traditional song, ‘The Ash and the Oak and the Bonny Ivy Tree’, in the making of its entirely contemporary point.

The selection, by Ian Anderson of fRoots magazine, is masterly. ‘The Forsaken Mermaid’ demonstrates the ease with which she fits with her father Martin Carthy’s playing and mother Norma Waterson’s singing. ‘Blood on My Boots’ attests to the strength of her songwriting – ‘Marianne Faithful sings a song about a boy who's like the rain’ is a wonderful opening line. She lets rip on her fiddle in ‘Cold, Wet & Rainy Night’ and the arrangements are excellent throughout. ‘The Company of Men’ is famous for the line about giving blow jobs to men who no longer care for her, but it is as epic and tender as any Hollywood theme. Every home should have a Wayward Daughter.