British folk is currently awash with fine young voices, but few present themselves unaccompanied, as Kirsty Bromley does at times on this debut. The self-penned opener, Caught up on a Breeze, is a lovely celebration of becoming independent, poised but unaffected qualities Bromley brings to a mix of other songs. There’s plenty of tradition on display – Sweet Nightingale and Two Young Sisters – plus more unusual choices such as Chris Wood’s stirring English Ground and Bill Meek’s title track, a lament from a sailor’s sweetheart. The accompaniments are discreet – piano, cello, fiddle, squeezebox – with Bromley’s crystal vocals always the focal point, not least on a traditional Maori song Taku Mana, where she double-tracks her voice. A confident, heartening debut.
