Steve Knightley and Phil Beer have become the folk heroes of the West Country thanks to their insistence on playing tiny venues as well as concert halls, their classy multi-instrumental and vocal work, and ability to match Knightley’s powerful songwriting with traditional material and anything else that takes their fancy. Following their first world war collaboration project with Jim Carter and Imelda Staunton comes an album dominated by songs about English history and love. The best tracks include Knightley’s sturdy lament for the losers in the Battle of Hastings (with Michael Wood speaking in Saxon), a traditional song about transportation to the US, and the title track, a poignant, mature love song. Then there’s a shanty, recorded in a pub in Topsham, Devon, where they are based, and songs by Topsham accordion player Chris Hoban, who joins Miranda Sykes, Jackie Oates, Phillip Henry and Hannah Martin in providing effective backing.
