It’s been nearly four years since Fay Hield’s last solo album, and she has spent much of that time working on an extensive digital archive of English songs, and performing some of them with The Full English band. She’s a folk scholar as well as a singer, and the new set offers an intriguingly varied selection of narrative songs that ‘help us explore rights and wrongs’. There are stories of witchcraft and betrayal, along with a charming Nineteenth Century attack on the judiciary system, an allegorical tale involving a hornet, beetle and woodpecker. Then there’s a sea shanty about Noah, and a romantic, folk-influenced weepie by Tom Waits. Her sturdy, no-nonsense vocals are backed by a distinguished band, several of whom played with The Full English, and include Bellowhead fiddler Sam Sweeney, along with ‘special guests’ Martin Simpson and Hield’s partner Jon Boden. Classy and entertaining.
