This Earthly Spell

Karine Polwart

Just the promise of a new album of original material from Karine Polwart is enough to send a shiver of expectation up the spine. That she could have written it all in the same year as having a baby boy (Arlo), and producing her last album The Fairest Floo'er is testament to her incredible creativity. On her MySpace blog she states 'So... if I can do one worthwhile thing for my own son with this business of writing songs I think it will be... to put flesh on the bones of my own real and imagined ancestors, and Arlo's. My next big writing project will be, with all of them in mind, a joyful and personal piece of work.'

She has delivered on that promise with This Earthly Spell, between the albums emotive title to the closing strains of Tongue That Cannot Lie Polwart has woven a great big beautiful landscape of life, love and emotion. Of course, many songs can conjure images and feelings, but few are good enough to take you to a place where you can actually smell the woodsmoke on the evening air, or feel the wind blowing across the loch on your face.

There is a fair warning in the title, this album casts it's spell over you and holds you close, it will leave an indelible impression on you. If Polwarts ancestors are taking an interest in her from whatever realms they dwell in they will surely feel a warm glow of pride in their descendants work.

Karine's songwriting shines a light into the spirit of a place, the lives of the people who pass through it are given flesh through the hopes, fears and longings they carry with them. Ordinary lives that are imbued with universal themes and motifs that link us all together, where The FairestFloo'er looked at these themes through the stark, often uncompromising glass of Scottish traditional song, This Earthly Spell casts a warm glow across the landscape.

Her voice is better than ever, her range gives each song an individual character enhanced by the arrangements that swell and billow whilst allowing her voice to remain centre stage. It's nigh on impossible to pick out a favourite track as they are all of such fantastic quality. These songs grab the ear immediately whilst also having a depth that reveals different enchanting vistas with repeat listening.
I feel this gorgeous open hearted album is her best work to date, expect more award nominations coming her way.

Young Arlo has a very talented Mum.

Iain Hazlewood