It’s taken 10 years for Ulster-born piper Jarlath Henderson to convert his Young Folk Award into a solo album, so busy has he been with collaborations (two records with Ross Ainslie), and with qualifying as a doctor. Now 29, he has delivered a handsome traditional album in Hearts Broken, its eight antique songs given modern treatments built on the punchy bass playing of producer Duncan Lyall, with brass, electronica and even beatbox in the mix. Henderson is foremost a uillean piper, and he makes his pipes and whistles wail and rock on tracks like Two Brothers, but his singing also brings a brooding intensity to murder ballads like Young Edmund or the loping Lovely Nancy. Splendid.
