The Henry Girls
Album: December Moon
Label: Self Released
Tracks: 14
Website: www.thehenrygirls.com

The third album from the Irish sisters Karen, Lorna and Joleen McLaughlin is as immediate a slice of folk-pop as any you'll come across this year. Their tight three-part harmonies are matched by soulful musicianship across a range of instruments including harp, viola, mandolin, fiddle, piano, accordion, ukulele and banjo.

Stop Saying Forever explores a more country road, while the delicious interlude Moonstruck is almost cinematic in its scope. The title track probably best captures the girls' easily accessible take on traditional music and while their cover of Costello's Watching the Detectives adds little to the original it does provide a moment of familiarity that only endears the listener. Sweet Dreams and Fool's Gold display the group's poppier instincts, particularly Sweet Dreams, which imbues a relatively simple structure with genuine emotion and would serve a soundtrack well.

Of course, The Henry Girls are not the first outfit to take a delicate dance along the dividing line between folk and pop, but they manage to explore a slightly different route to the likes of the Be Good Tanyas, Indigo Girls and Fairground Attraction.

Nick Churchill
www.thegranvillechambers.co.uk