Not One but Another

Andy Kirkham is a British, Norfolk-based folk guitar player and songwriter. His fifth solo album is a reflective affair, consisting of 11 heartfelt tracks that concentrate on love, loss and the coming of age of his children. There are some beautiful compositions here, notably the luscious instrumental numbers ‘Ottro Pollo Verde’, ‘Angel Fish’ wherein Kirkham's prowess as a classical player comes to the fore, and ‘Jarabi’, his interpretation of the West African kora tune. His playing is rich and alluring throughout; there is an omnipresent delicacy to his tone, even when he breaks out into raunchy blues-influenced passages such as ‘Cat Bells’.

However, aside from the charming ‘Little Shoes’ and the album's opener ‘Travelling Song’, the vocal tracks from Not One but Another carry significantly less weight. ‘Blind Alley’ is fairly trite, and the album's closer ‘Sundown’ – a lament to times passed and inspired by Margaret Thatcher's funeral – is similarly melancholic but not convincing. Nonetheless, it is a pleasing album overall, with some real standout moments.