Eliza Carthy + Tim Eriksen: Bottle review – spirited, experimental folk revivalism

Eliza Carthy’s musical adventures continue. Last year she joined her dad, Martin Carthy, in The Moral of the Elephant, a charming album of acoustic collaborations. Now comes another set of duets, and it could hardly be more different. It starts with a furious blast of distorted electric guitar and fiddle, on a song that praises the killing of buffalo, and is followed by a lament for the massacre of native Americans. Eliza’s new musical sparring partner is the “hardcore Americana” singer and multi-instrumentalist Tim Eriksen, whose spirited, experimental approach to reviving traditional material fits perfectly with her style. The result is a varied set of American and English songs that range from an amplified treatment of Sacred Harp hymns to a gutsy banjo- and violin-backed arrangement of the tragic ballad Whitby Lad, and fine unaccompanied harmony singing on Love Farewell.