Storymap

Lau’s Kris Drever and Salsa Celtica’s Éamonn Coyne got together to record Storymap in Scotland last autumn, with guests including Alan Kelly, Eliza Carthy and Megan Henderson dropping in to add fiddle, voice and accordion to their own vocals, guitar, mandolin, banjo and tenor guitar.

Two reels open the album, followed by ‘Farewell to Stromness’, a whaler’s leave-taking tune with a suitably mournful vocal from Drever. Then there’s a couple of instrumentals – the silvery, scintillating ‘Marches and Reels’, followed by ‘Micky Finn’s Air’, a heart-melting tune set beside the more martial, fiddle-led ‘Goat Walk’. One of the highlights is the big ballad ‘Isle of France’, with a beautiful, spare setting of guitar, tenor guitar, harmonium and voice. Drever’s voice comes into its own here, and it’s where you can hear the artistry and taste of the two lead players. ‘May Morning Dew’ is another big song – concerning that perennnial theme of departure and the longing backwards look – supported by just their guitars and a light breath of harmonium. The instrumental ‘Pot Luck’ focuses on the pair’s symbiotic guitar work, while the closing jig ‘Teddy Bear’s Picnic’ dances out the album with some fine filigree playing.