Kris Drever

Mark The Hard Earth is a very impressive contemporary Scottish folk album, with a strong, slow-growing charm.

Irish American multi-instrumentalist Tim O'Brien adds the sonic equivalent of subtle marker pen highlights to many songs with his mandolin, banjo, ukulele and harmony vocals. Roy Dodds (drums) Ewen Vernal (bass), Donald Shaw (keyboards) and guitarist Ian Carr play alongside producer and fddler John McCusker and Kris. Irish singer Heidi Talbot duets with Drever on The Banks of the Nile, as before, the album mixes old and new writing. Boo Hewerdine's country-gospel favoured Sweet Honey in the Rock is up to his best writing. The Crown of London, by Drever's brother Duncan, is a pulsing number with a melody that simply bores into your brain and stays there, along with some great lyrics: "The devil's made plans for the wealthy man / he'll never get to me". The self-penned title-track is a stark, enigmatic waltz that's probably the best of them all, introducing a wintry theme that resurfaces over a number of his songs. There is a lovely version of The Call and the Answer, which fans of The Dubliners may know. Traditional ballad O' A' the Airts has especially fne backing vocals by Talbot, and the closing Freedom Come A'ye (featuring Karine Polwart) matches words by the great Scottish poet Hamish Henderson with the tune of Bloody Fields of Flanders, to strikingly solemn effect. Understated and beautifully played, Drever's singing is peerless. Mark The Hard Earth is an essential addition to Kris Drever and Lau's vinyl catalogue.