“Freak folk” never did justice to the decade-plus-old US project to reinhabit ancient song forms. There is little of the wild-eyed outsider artist to former Espers mainstay Meg Baird, originally based in Philadelphia, now of San Francisco. Her third solo album is unceasingly calm and atmospheric, Baird’s light, almost impressionistic vocal and finger-picking style augmented by additional guitars and a little unobtrusive percussion. The theme here is bittersweet leave-taking, as track titles such as Past Houses imply. Not a great deal seems to be happening – then you are suddenly brought up short by the guitar that sings out on Back to You or the polyphony of Leaving Song.
