A Different Season [CD]

Anyone who was at the Sidmouth Folk Festival last August and was lucky enough to have been at Dick Gaughan's show cannot fail to have been impressed by the Shee. They were the support act that day but presented the great man with a very hard act to follow. They stormed the place, and it will not be long before they themselves will be headlining on the big stages. So impressive and enjoyable was their set that after their performance there was a queue a mile long to buy this, their debut CD.

Anyone who did acquire themselves a copy will have been delighted when they got it home and listened, for this is an album of exhilarating melodies and beautiful original and traditional songs all delivered with an outstanding level of musicianship.

The Shee are six young women, four from Scotland and two from England, and each one of them an extremely accomplished musician. And while many bands are lucky to have one decent vocalist, The Shee can boast three exceptionally fine and contrasting singers.

Instrumentally they feature fiddle, flute, harp, mandolin, accordion, and refreshingly, no guitar player. Instead the rhythm is supplied by Laura Beth Salter's precise bluegrass style mandolin chops and inventive bass lines played on the harp by Rachel Newton. This makes for uncluttered settings which allow the timbre of the instruments and the superb musicianship to shine through.
What makes the Shee stand out from the plethora of bands with Celtic roots and similar instrumental line-ups is the wide variety of musical influences that the individual members bring to the mix. They have managed to forge these disparate influences into a band that is constantly musically interesting while presenting a strong unified identity.

There are no weak tracks here but among my personal favourites is their impressive version of Graham Moore's `Tom Paine's Bones', so memorably covered by the aforementioned Mr Gaughan. Vocals on this track are by Olivia Ross, an exceptional singer who has worked with artists of the calibre of Kathryn Tickell and Chris Wood and whose wider recognition is long overdue.

Laura Beth Salter shines on the brooding `Here I Am', a new song to me and an absolute classic. It is made even more special by the inventive production, strong vocal harmonies and the soulful flute of Lillias Kinsman-Blake. It really is a very fine track indeed.

`Ged Is Grianach An Latha' has the sort of melancholy melody that stays with you all day. Originally from the singing of Flora MacNeil, I first heard it performed by the Poozies a few years back. But whereas they took it at a rather jaunty tempo, here it is presented at a much slower pace with Rachel Newton's beautiful voice extracting every ounce of emotion from the lyrics. The arrangement is little short of stunning with Lillias's flute solo again adding some extra magic to proceedings.

As well as the seven songs there are four hugely impressive tune sets, all of which give the band a chance to show off their considerable instrumental prowess. These are not just the usual collections of jigs and reels knocked out to fill up the album, but well crafted collections of original and traditional tunes presented with intelligent and inventive arrangements that retain their interest after repeated hearings. Each one is full of musical twists and turns that continually delights and surprises the listener.

Of the tune sets my favourite is `Happy Halloween' which was composed by the band's accordionist (and step dancer) Amy Thatcher. I particularly love the interplay between the flute and Shona Mooney's fiddle. The way that the various instruments weave in and out of each other is totally captivating from start to finish - just brilliant.

Equally impressive is `The Drunken Duck', a collection of original tunes which just plain rocks and demonstrates why this band is enthralling audiences wherever they play.

I can confidently predict that 2009 will be the year when the world takes notice of The Shee. A band as good as this cannot go unnoticed for long and this hugely impressive debut album is sure to receive the accolades it so richly deserves. Go on - treat yourself to a copy - you will be glad you did.