The Hind Wheels of Bad Luck

In an era in which female folk voices are either breathy and virginal or histrionic and attention-seeking, Cath Tyler’s voice stands out a mile. On ‘Lady Gay’, the most old–time American of the songs here, she sounds like Gillian Welch after a hard night. It suits the pared–down lope of voice and guitar that is her and husband Phil’s patented style. ‘Our Captain Cried’ is a perfect example: guitar and voice helping each other along in a hesitant shuffle, like a pair of wounded soldiers. There’s a peculiar way in which every guitar stroke, every vocal line sounds like it will be the last one, even when it’s the opening note of a song. It makes the cheerier songs sound self–deprecating; it gives the songs of longing and loss a real pathos.

This is not a monochrome album, however. Fiddle and accordion frequently creep into the mix and, because it’s all so intimate and close–up, their effect is invariably huge. ‘Whip Poor Will’ is a charmingly lumpy instrumental with a distinctly Scandinavian sound to it: an indie polska. ‘Golden Ace’ is its sprightlier cousin, and is probably the closest track on the album to a traditional English country dance performance. Phil even takes a lead vocal on ‘Long Time Traveller,’ the album’s closer. While he would have singing tutors of the Glee school choking midway through their enunciation exercises, the song is one of many here showing that lo–fi is often the way to go. After all, it worked for the Voice of the People series; it works here too.