Gemma Khawaja & Adam Rees
Album: Gathering Rushes EP
Label: Moth House
Tracks: 5
Website: https://www.mothhouserecording.com

Gemma is a singer originally from the midlands but now based in Cromer, Norfolk. She won the 2013 Trad2Mad competition at Islington Folk Club, so it comes as no surprise that - at least on the evidence of this EP (her debut on disc) - that her repertoire is pretty much exclusively traditional in nature. After the disc's title song, she bravely tackles no fewer than three classic ballads in succession - Edwin In The Lowlands, Lord Gregory and The Holland Handkerchief - to which she then (arguably even more bravely) appends a live recording of her account of another ballad, Clerk Saunders.

Though described as an EP, the whole disc weighs in at just under half an hour, but Gemma's singing holds the listener's attention well throughout, even though she may not possess the most individual voice (in terms of expressiveness). Her tone can come across as a touch serious, even acerbic - but that may be a quirk in the recording, and is not difficult to get accustomed to, for her interpretations are nonetheless keenly realised albeit perhaps not yet fully formed. Her own guitar accompaniment is better than adequate, and on this album session she's augmented by Adam Rees (additional guitars and banjo), with a modicum of experimentation in terms of format and arrangement on The Holland Handkerchief (a cappella intro and coda, and limited studio treatment to vocal backing).

The record label's hand-crafted presentation includes on this occasion a tiny insert with artwork papercuts by Gemma herself, on which she credits her sources (inspirations) for the various songs: viz. Anne Briggs, Maddie (sic) Prior, Louis Killen, Alasdair Roberts, Martin Carthy/Norma Waterson and Rory & Alex McEwen respectively.

Although Gemma clearly relishes the telling of the stories in these songs, and responds to their themes and nuances, there's a slight air of even consistency in her honest renditions, with perhaps less in terms of expressive variation than one might expect (taken over the course of the whole disc), which at times implies that she might be missing some of the drama of these ballads. Further insights will surely come with time - but for the meantime this EP is a most credible, and distinctly promising, calling-card that shows Gemma means business in this repertoire.

David Kidman