Read the Sky

Oysterband have had an impressive history, and they are certainly not finished yet. This is the 12th studio album, the first in eight years, from the band who first shook up the folk scene back in the 80s with their glorious punk-influenced take on ‘Hal-an-Tow’, and recorded two sets with June Tabor that became folk-rock classics.

They have always been fine songwriters themselves, and the best songs here mix anger and a sense of urgency in their stories of climate change and pollution. So the gutsy ‘The Time is Now’, which was released to coincide with the COP26 summit in Glasgow, matches global horror stories with a plea for action, while ‘Wonders Are Passing’ is a pained anthem and lament for all that is being lost, and asks ‘we burned the house down – where do we run to when there’s no place else?’ On ‘Streams of Innocence’ they take a different approach, juxtaposing stories of childhood fun against descriptions of a river being wrecked, as ‘the colour changes below the mill.’ As ever, Oysterband match guitars and drums against Ian Telfer’s fiddle and the melodeon of singer John Jones, and though the best songs are thoughtful, there’s room for stompers like ‘The Corner of the Room’. Welcome Back.