To The Ground

Kerfuffle may instantly evoke Little Britain’s do-gooder catchphrase, but don’t dismiss this group as a comic trifle.

To The Ground opens with ‘Katie Shaw’ delivered by Kerfuffle’s vocalist and accordionist, Hannah James, in a voice that’s strangely reminiscent of Cara Dillon – strange, seeing as though it couldn’t be more English. And at eight verses long, it’s a hefty album opener but its simple vocal delivery and delicate accompaniment ensures the listener hangs on to every word about the collier lass.

And Kerfuffle’s treatment of ‘Down By The Greenwood Side’ has a similar effect. The tale is beautifully told, again in James’ sweet but knowing vocals, and instrumental accompaniment enhances and embellishes but doesn’t dare distract from the task in hand: empathising with a protagonist who has murdered her newborn. And it is undoubtedly the highlight of the album.

Tunes are also a welcome treat here, with bagpipes, accordion, fiddle and viola all getting a look in. The listener may have to remind themselves that track seven, ‘Betty Corringall’s Lament’, is in fact a tune as it is so lyrically delivered. We are told the subject committed suicide after falling pregnant to a sailor, and the power of the bleak nautical landscape invoked is all-consuming.

To state that this album will cause a kerfuffle on release is too easy a journalistic pun and too trivial a noun, but it should certainly cause an impact as it’s just too good to miss.

Sophie Parkes