The Morning Key

Although their 2012 debut, Way on Up the Hill, was impressive enough to garner acclaim from the likes of Bob Harris and Rosanne Cash, the new album from the Sussex-based roots quartet is a huge leap forward. Playing and touring during that time has given them a confidence that puts them right up with their musical heroes and puts the lid on the tired old arguments about whether it's OK for Brits to play Americana. When it's as good as this, why not?

Opener ‘These Streets’ sets out the band's stall straight away: classic songwriting and top-notch playing from Phil Jones (double bass, banjo, guitar), Fred Gregory (guitar and mandolin) and James Shenton (fiddle, whistle, piano), topped with the lovely voice of Chloe Overton (sounding not unlike Alison Krauss). Their trademark three-part harmonies come to the fore on ‘One Promised Land’, while the slow-burning ‘Scarlet Ribbon’ is as poignant as the road song ‘Maps or Compass’ is riotous fun. ‘Evangeline’ is a song that almost sounds like it could have been around the Appalachian mountains forever but was in fact penned, like all the material here, by the band themselves and recorded in a barn in an East Sussex village. By all accounts, their live show is pretty stunning too, which makes Hatful of Rain definitely a band to watch.