Making common cause between antique songs and present circumstances is one of the grails of modern folk, one this young duo pull off impressively on their second album, with old ballads like The Grazier Tribe and Bonny Bunch of Roses fitting snugly alongside originals such as Moved On and Night Hours. The former concerns the battle to secure social housing in east London (the celebrated Focus E15), the latter the hardships of the nightshift. Boo Hewerdine’s Harvest Gypsies and the Aussie bushman song Along the Castlereagh amplify the social theme. Aldridge’s rich, powerful voice dominates, but ripples of banjo and guitar and touches of accordion, pipes and fiddle supply an accomplished backdrop. Rousing stuff.
