Flowers Where the Horses Sleep

After recently focusing on traditional songs, Burnell’s sixth album finds him back with pen in hand. Joined by a collection of players evoking the energy of his festival sets, many of the songs here are well fed and there is a broad palette on display. Sometimes it’s ace, like on ‘Joan of the Greenwood’, boasting a lovely fiddle line, but elsewhere it’s overdone. The dramatic piano entrance and booming bass drum of ‘Let Me Fall Down’ is fun but jarring and ‘Le Fay’, an extravagant tribute to the Arthurian legend Morgan Le Fay, has too much going on and could have a less polished sound.

That said, songs like ‘Invisible Wings’ are more subtle, with a pretty piano line and backing vocals from Frances Sladen joining spare acoustic guitar for a more spacious arrangement that allows the song to breathe. ‘Run with Me’ builds a great mid-section to the album, also throwing less at the ear, with the vocals of Burnell and Sladen being the focal point, resulting in a piece that brings to mind Seth Lakeman and Cara Dillon. Indeed, there are many more highs than lows and for the most part, Flowers Where the Horses Sleep is a very enjoyable album full of creativity and vim.