1 Dives and Lazarus
2 Trooper's Nag
3 Jock Of Hazeldean
4 The Collier Lad
5 Martinmass Time
6 Love Will Find Out The Way
7 In Sad and Ashy Weeds
8 Bold General Wolfe
9 The Cuckoo
10 I Heard The Banns
11 Came Ye From Newcastle
12 Trimdon Grange
13 Staines Morris
14 North Country Lass
15 Come Again
16 Magpie

From Amazon.com

Living Folk Music

 Album Rating: (4 of 5 stars)

Review Comments: This is a lovely collection of traditional English and Scottish folk songs sung by the incomparable Maddy Prior, of Steeleye Span fame. Her solo albums are always a treat, but this one is special. Keeping things simple and relying on few studio tricks, save the occasional overdubbing of her own voice as an echoing background effect, this predominantly acoustic set is generous in length, but never tedious. One might expect a scholarly selection of musty old tunes such as this to fall into a trap of over-serious gloom, but Maddy's bell-clear voice, barely diminished by time, lifts these songs into a realm somewhere between the clouds of morning and a starry night sky. There is a delicacy that is deceptive, for many of these songs deal with dark subject matter like grief over lost love, death in battle or by sickness, and the depression and despair that comes from endless, thankless toil. Some of these songs may have been written hundreds of years ago, but through Prior's deeply present interpretations, they speak powerfully to our own time. On the other hand, as in "The Cuckoo" and "Magpie," metaphors drawn from nature paint pictures of beauty and sadness that transport the listener to a world which looks and sounds like the vanished past from whence these songs come. There are crystal clear guitars, recorders, cellos, harps, violins and accordions, all the typical instruments of traditional music (but with odd ones such as the middle eastern ud added here and there), but rarely are every one of these used in a single song. They are put together in different combinations to suit each piece, so that the end result is an album of tremendous variety within the confines of its traditional content, a subtle and deft accomplishment by all the musicians concerned. I love the overall buoyant sound of this record, which finds Maddy Prior in complete mastery of her material, and yet relaxed and at ease with it. Even the slow ballads draw one in with a hushed air of mystery, rather than put the listener off with dreariness. Prior has a varied box of tonal colors in her throat, which she can open up or constrict, lift into a high, clear soprano or drop to a breathy whisper, and all the while, there is a sense that she is not just entranced by the pretty melodies of many of these songs, she understands and feels the lyrics.

While all of the songs here are beautifully arranged and sung, a few deserve special note: "I Heard The Banns" has a melody which may remind listeners familiar with the Maddy Prior & Tim Hart album, SUMMER SOLSTICE, of "Dancing At Whitson." This gorgeous tune has, of course, completely different lyrics and concerns a man abandoned by his love, who he sees marry another. Maddy reverses the sexes and sings it from a woman's perspective. "Staines Morris" is a celebratory tune that conjures up images of dancing around a Maypole and is made all the more beautiful by the male vocal chorus and the dancing fiddles and accordion; its an uplifting moment, but not the only one amid this collection of mostly ballads. However, it's the ballad which Prior truly excels at, and "North Country Lass," with its recorders, guitars and strings backing it up, and "Come Again," a John Dowland lute melody, which Maddy sings with only a harp behind her, provide some of SEVEN FOR OLD ENGLAND's most transcendent passages.

Loading this CD into iTunes, I noticed that although nearly all of the songs are between two and four and a half minutes long, the last tune, "Magpie," looked to be over twenty minutes long. Not so, it turns out. It is one of the albums prettiest songs, but it ends after about three minutes. Very frustrating, if one wants to include it in a mix. What happens is a much longer than normal gap of time before Maddy returns in the final two and a half minutes with a simple arrangement of a very old and familiar tune. I won't give it away, as it's kind of a nice little surprise.

If you're a fan of folk music that hasn't been overly modernized, with almost exclusively acoustic accompaniment, you can't go wrong with this. I only give it four stars as an indication that this album will not be to everyone's taste. It's got virtually no pop appeal. There are no drum kits or synthesizers or electric guitars. Nothing wrong with those things; I love good, loud pop and rock music, but this is a quiet set for a contemplative mood. Even the quicker songs seem like a whisper from another time, a time of beggars' banquets, of great battles lost and won, and of holiday feasts by candlelight. SEVEN FOR OLD ENGLAND has a light, fresh energy and an engaged artist at the helm, whose talent seems to shine ever more with the passing years. Maddy Prior is a rare bird, indeed.