Emily Barker & The Red Clay Halo
Album: Dear River
Label: Linn
Tracks: 11
Website: http://www.emily-barker.com

Emily Barker hails from Bridgetown, Western Australia but has been based in the UK since 2002. "Dear River" is her fourth album with her band, the all-female The Red Clay Halo. This is Emily's first album on a major label [Linn Records who famously were home to The Blue Nile], her previous three having been self-financed. For the record, those first three albums are "Photos.Fires.Fables" [2005]; "Despite The Snow" [2008] and "Almanac" [2011].

The Red Clay Halo are Anna Jenkins [violin, viola and vocals]; Gill Sandell [accordion, piano, flute, percussion and vocals] and Jo Silverston [cello, bass, saw, banjo and vocals]. As you will observe, this is not your average rock group instrumentation and the Halo [as I shall call them] and Emily create a sound akin to a small chamber ensemble.

Emily's career highlights include performing at the Olympic Games Opening Ceremony last year [with Frank Turner] and providing the theme tunes to two hit television series, "Wallander" ["Nostalgia"] and "The Shadow Line"["Pause"].

Produced by famed Scottish producer Calum Malcolm, "Dear River" is a glorious blend of folk, country, rock and classical influences and it showcases Emily's outstanding abilities as a songwriter, not to mention her gorgeous singing voice.

The album is a song-cycle consisting of eleven songs on the themes of travel, separation, displacement, home and family. The Halo provide a sumptuous musical setting for Emily's evocative yet personal lyrics. The combination of violin, cello, accordion and guitar provides the perfect accompaniment as each song flows into the next, much like the "Dear River" of the album's title track.

This is a thoroughly enjoyable album from start to finish and it is one that I will be returning to again and again, without doubt. Emily says that she is "So happy with this album" and that it is "The best recording we've done". I certainly wouldn't disagree with her and if this is not included in the Albums of the Year for 2013 I'll eat my Cork Hat !

Peter Cowley