Edgelarks is the self-titled debut album from folk group Edgelarks, made up primarily of musicians Phillip Henry and Hannah Martin.

By Jane Howkins

Both artists have previously played and produced music by themselves, and have built up something of a reputation for themselves within the folk community, however here they really shine, showing just how good their joint talents can be.

Musically, this work isn’t too different from their solo stuff, and they seem to have produced a similar style throughout their lengthy careers. This means that older fans of both artists shouldn’t find themselves unable to listen to this new collaboration, but fans of each musician should find themselves opened up to the prospect of a new favourite singer-songwriter.

Joining Henry and Martin are a selection of other worthwhile musicians, including table player Niall Robinson, bassist Lukas Drinkwater, and John Elliott on the drums and keyboards. Their instrumentation builds up to provide a great selection of backing material that adds something special to these tracks. The main players also use a slew of wonderful instruments, with fiddles and banjos meeting with Indian instruments such as the chaturangui – a classical slide guitar played from the region. Whilst the folk they play is rather traditional, there is also an element of experimentalism here, and we like it.

Henry and Martin have produced a great album within their alter ego Edgelarks, and we hope that they will continue playing together, and that this is not just a one off. If anyone can bridge the divide between traditional and new folk it’s them, with the tracks on this album showing them doing that already.

Edgelarks by Edgelarks is out now.