Goshawk

Here's an intriguing prospect. Radik Tülüsh, an esteemed Tuvan throat singer and a member of the long-running group Huun Huur Tu, has teamed up with English folk singer Carole Pegg, who recorded several cult-classic albums with 70s psychedelic folk-rock band Mr Fox. She is also a senior research scholar of Mongolian and Tuvan music at Cambridge. Goshawk showcases the pair's innovative and atmospheric arrangements of classic English folk songs such as ‘Flash Company’ and ‘Nottingham Town’ alongside some of Pegg's own visionary poem-like songs.

To cut to the chase: Pegg has always had a unique voice and phrasing, which has grown more idiosyncratic over the years; your enjoyment of this album stands or falls on whether or not you like her voice. For this reviewer, it's too close to the histrionic for comfort, particularly on the spookier-sounding songs. Pegg's fiddle playing, on the other hand, has an appealing agility and a lightness of touch. ‘Jinny's Jig’ and ‘Hare in the Corn’ are instrumental duets that possess a simplicity and directness. They prompt speculation on what an all-instrumental album from the pair might sound like; perhaps one on which Tülüsh's contributions skulked less in the background and stood on more of an equal footing.