Wolves a’ Howlin’

This pair of talented instrumentalists don’t look old enough to be playing music this long in the tooth. Fiddler Kieran Towers and banjo and mandolin player Charlotte Carrivick (already known to the UK folk scene via her duo with sister Laura) here present their first collaboration, a virtuoso albeit sometimes austere performance that sounds straight out of Appalachia. Towers is a powerhouse of old-time music, with a hard-driving, intricate style. Carrivick shadows him closely, mostly on banjo, following his melody lines and picking out accompaniments. The sound palette might seem a bit dry on paper: not a bit of it. The duo wring out new sounds and textures, especially on the original numbers here (easily spotted by the eccentric titles). On ‘New Carpet’, Towers’ detuned fiddle introduces a wonky melody that lopes along with an easy swing, with Carrivick's banjo bubbling alongside it. ‘I Wash Myself With a Rag on a Stick’ is another great tune, with a droning fiddle line underpinning an infectious, furious duet.

There is plenty of older music, too, such as the concluding title-track, on which Towers and Carrivick cover an early 20th-century tune by The Stripling Brothers. It's the one moment on the record featuring vocals – howling, unsurprisingly.