The folk scene is a home for experimentation as well as revivalism, and Twelfth Day create an acoustic, genre-blending style that is both edgy and inventive. Catriona Price is a singer and fiddler from Orkney, while Esther Swift is a singer and harpist from the Scottish borders. Classically trained, they call themselves a “two-person quartet”, and are helped here by Chris Wood, making his debut as a producer, with Tom Waits’ sound engineer Oz Fritz creating sparse but subtle soundscapes. There are sturdy Celtic influences in their instrumental work, from the improvised False Electric to their lament for Syria, Another Phase in History. But they switch to emotional vocals for the defiant Gold and Swilling or the pained, half-spoken Cracks, a song about a woman trying to do what is expected of her: “She punched herself, she dented herself.” A bold, intriguing set.
