Angels Without Wings

The list of guest players on Heidi Talbot’s new album is impressive, to say the least. Mark Knopfler contributes guitar to ‘The Loneliest’ and ‘When the Roses Come Again,’ a tune to which the great Tim O’Brien also adds his vocals to Talbot’s sweet, warm, emotive delivery. Boo Hewerdine co-wrote many of the songs with Talbot and her husband, the fiddle player and producer John McCusker. There are further guest vocals from Karine Polwart, Julie Fowlis and King Creosote. Then there is strong instrumental support from Donald Shaw, Michael McGoldrick, Andy Cutting, Phil Cunningham and Jerry Douglas. You might think that this would lead to a musically crowded record, but Angels Without Wings, recorded live in Gorbals Sound Studios, is light and deft. The title-track is a charming opener, sporting a Parisian-style sense of musical romance, while O’Brien and McCusker’s ‘Wine and Roses’ is a poignant recall of young love. ‘Dearest Johnny’ builds on a traditional root to forge a bright, lingering song of longing.

The one tune written solely by Talbot, ‘I’m Not Sorry’, is a highlight, with a real emotional depth and weight, and it’s the album’s later songs that linger longest. ‘When the Roses Come Again’ is a beautiful, bittersweet, backward-looking ballad, and Hewerdine’s ‘My Sister the Moon’ has fine playing from McCusker behind Talbot’s breathy vocal, singing of the round of the seasons and the movements of heavenly bodies. The closing ‘Arcadia’ employs Phil Cunningham’s accordion and strings to bring an otherworldly air to a quietly powerful set of new songs.