Vortex

For their third album and tenth anniversary, the string quartet Methera convened at Home Farm Barns in Norfolk over three days in April to capture nine new and traditional pieces that showcase English chamber folk at its most nuanced and grounded. Vortex ranges from fiddler Emma Reid's opener, ‘Lilly’, a musical reflection of her one-year-old's temperament, through an epic title-track that clocks in at over 11 minutes, to a bridal march composed by Vaäen's nyckelharpa player Olov Johansson, and a tune from the Playford collection, ‘Love Lies Bleeding’, adapted by fiddler John Dipper. Cellist Lucy Deakin contributes a fleet-footed ‘The Fox’, paired with a lovely blackbird-inspired schottische from viola player Miranda Rutter. But it's the extraordinary and delicate textures of the title-track that really stand out, a suite of great ambition and achievement. It's comparable to the ‘Opening Set’ track on The Gloaming's eponymous album, and is comprised of three tunes: the first by Dipper, inspired by a New Year's Eve walk in the snow; the second by Swedish duo Mia and Mikael Marin; and the third from a collaboration between Dipper and Swedish storyteller Mats Rehnman.

The invention and interplay throughout is breathtaking, and sets Methera beside the very best instrumental groups of the decade.