Cold Blows the Wind

The assured trio of Cohen Braithwaite-Kilcoyne on melodeon, concertina and vocals, singer and guitarist George Sansome and violinist Lewis Wood return with their fourth album, following on from the largely tune-led The Brickfields (2021). With some big traditional songs to deal with, including ‘The False Bride’, ‘Claudy Banks’, ‘Lovely Joan’, ‘The Nightingale’ and the mournful title song, as well as a couple of tune sets from Playford and the Richard Pyle manuscripts (and one original piece, about a plagiarism claim against Ed Sheeran), it’s a consummate set by three leading solo artists from the 2020s folk scene who find plenty to draw down together from that attic they’ve got in their name. Braithwaite-Kilcoyne ably shares lead vocal duties with Sansome, and standouts range from the otherworldly charms of ‘The Mermaid’, to the lesser-known tune that lights up the familiar lover’s tale of ‘Claudy Banks’.