sun 08/12/2024

CD: Kate Rusby - 20 | reviews, news & interviews

CD: Kate Rusby - 20

CD: Kate Rusby - 20

Soft-toned folk star offers a homeopathic cure for autumn blues

Kate Rusby celebrates 20 years in the recording business

Year after year Kate Rusby, one of the undisputed stars of the British folk revival, turns out quality albums and even better live performances. Ten years ago she celebrated a decade in the business with a collection of re-recordings and unreleased material. Ten years on, she has put together a double CD that features a number of star collaborators and less well-known but equally talented friends and contains new versions of her favourite songs.

The magic Rusby touch is characterised by a sweet and soft-toned vocal style and a heart-warming melancholy. It’s not by accident that the family company, Pure Records, should be named for a quality that excludes unnecessary adornment or excessive show. Kate Rusby has always gone straight for the heart, and she is joined on this double CD by musicians who travel the same road, from velvet-toned country singer Mary Chapin Carpenter to a stripped-down Paul Weller. All the voices have been chosen to provide a textural counterpoint to Rusby’s trademark sweetness: bluegrass newcomer Sarah Sarosz on “Planets”, the Irish giant Paul Brady on “All God’s Angels”, Richard Thompson on “Who Will Sing Me Lullabies” and the influential and under-rated Nic Jones on “The Lark". Jerry Douglas’s gently sliding guitar provides an extra transatlantic flavour on a couple of tracks. The arrangements are flawless, with a combination of passion and understatement that holds the vocals well.

The collection’s uniformity of tone – the happy sadness that goes with melancholy moods – makes it a perfect homeopathic cure as autumn draws in, though there is something unrelenting about the mid-paced gentility of it all. And yet, Kate Rusby deserves praise for the characteristic generosity she demonstrates in bringing together such a treasure-house of like-minded talents.

The magic Rusby touch is characterised by a sweet and soft-toned vocal style and a heart-warming melancholy

rating

Editor Rating: 
3
Average: 3 (1 vote)

Share this article

Comments

Its Sarah Jarosz do your homework!

Sadly, this is not representative of her previous work. Having seen her live in concert and played previous CDs many times, this sounded like a bunch of drunk guys supporting her at a village hall gig! Cancelled my iTunes download.

Add comment

The future of Arts Journalism

 

You can stop theartsdesk.com closing!

We urgently need financing to survive. Our fundraising drive has thus far raised £33,000 but we need to reach £100,000 or we will be forced to close. Please contribute here: https://gofund.me/c3f6033d

And if you can forward this information to anyone who might assist, we’d be grateful.

Subscribe to theartsdesk.com

Thank you for continuing to read our work on theartsdesk.com. For unlimited access to every article in its entirety, including our archive of more than 15,000 pieces, we're asking for £5 per month or £40 per year. We feel it's a very good deal, and hope you do too.

To take a subscription now simply click here.

And if you're looking for that extra gift for a friend or family member, why not treat them to a theartsdesk.com gift subscription?

newsletter

Get a weekly digest of our critical highlights in your inbox each Thursday!

Simply enter your email address in the box below

View previous newsletters