Martha Tilston - Lucy and the Wolves

by Malcolm Carter

published: 11 / 5 / 2010

Label: Squiggly Records
Format: CD

Pastoral and autumnal-sounding folk rock on superb latest album from English singer-songwriter, Martha Tilston

Review

It always amazes me when I come across an artist who is a new name to me only to find out that, as with Martha Tilston, they have in fact released a number of previous albums and made quite a name for themselves already. So I’m sorry but I can’t be one of those writers who can claim that I’ve heard everything Martha Tilston has recorded before and have loved her music for years. But I can claim that having heard her latest album, the mainly self-penned ‘Lucy and the Wolves’ that I love the eleven songs featured on that album. The music of Martha Tilston is firmly rooted in the folk genre. Martha won Best New Act at the BBC Folk Awards back in 2007 and judging by the quality of the songs on ‘Lucy and the Wolves’ that is hardly surprising. There’s a pure quality not only to her songs but to her voice which is a thing of rare beauty. But apart from that voice which really is exceptional, I should mention Martha’s backing band, the Woods, who are really outstanding. Jon Thorne shines with his double bass and the songs are embellished with bouzouki, mandolin, cello and violin to name just a few of the instruments which add so much texture to these songs. Although maybe not so similar vocally I’m constantly reminded of Charlotte Greig’s ‘Winter Woods’ album while listening to ‘Lucy and the Wolves’. Both albums have that pastoral, autumnal fell to them. Both artists create a real earthy, woody sound although as much as Charlotte Greig is a great singer Martha has the edge over her vocally. There’s such a pure quality to Martha’s vocals which is quite rare these days. ‘Rockpools’, the second song on the album, seems to be the track that is attracting the most attention just now. It is actually impossible to pick just one song out of the eleven here as the best track but ‘Rockpools’ is one of the more sparsely instrumented songs and shows just how adept both Martha is on the acoustic guitar and how Matt Tweed is on bouzouki. The only other instrument on this particular song is Thorne’s double bass. While nothing can distract from Martha’s exceptional vocals once the song has been heard a few times and the pureness and beauty in Martha’s vocals is less of a surprise one notices just how good the instrumental backing is not just on this song but throughout the whole album. There are some nice unexpected touches, the crackling of an open fire which starts ‘Who Turns’ nicely sums up the feeling of not only that song but the album as a whole. Again with just acoustic guitar, this time courtesy Matt Kelly and the ever-present double bass the focus is on Martha’s vocals once more and, while they are faultless on every song on the album, the vocals on this particular track will send shivers up your spine. ‘Lucy and the Wolves’ will obviously not appeal to those who are not fans of folk music, Martha rarely ventures into other territories, on this album at least, and why should she when she is so good and obviously a natural in this genre but it will be lapped up by those who like their folk music to be the real thing. ‘Lucy and the Wolves’ is an atmospheric collection of songs, it’s a very English-sounding album and you can almost feel the amount of love and care that has so obviously gone into making each song so special. Martha Tilston and her band have created what will, in years to come, be looked back upon as a classic in the folk music world. But don’t wait until the major music magazines rediscover it in five years time; do yourself a favour and listen to it now.