Norah Rendell
Album: Spinning Yarns
Label: Two Tap
Tracks: 11
Website: http://www.norahrendell.com

Coming out of Vancouver's Irish scene, singer, multi instrumentalist, mainly flutes and whistles, Norah Rendell has recorded with a number of groups including Cleia, the Maenads, the superbly named all female accapella group, the No Shit Shirleys and most notably, The Outside Track as well as in her own name.

"Spinning Yarns" is an album that sees her bringing in a number of different aspects of the Celtic traditions, that predominantly bring together Scots and Irish influences, though with the inclusion of a couple of songs from Newfoundland collections there are also influences that come in from the English song traditions.

It really is the song selection that makes this album, Rendell has a real passion for ensuring the songs that made the journey to Canada with the peoples that originally sang them stay in the psyche of the country that adopted them and gave them new life as much as it did for the people.

If that sound a bit academic, don't worry it's not, what it is is a collection of songs, delightfully performed and arranged. That it helps to capture real slices of social history and the narrative of harder and different times that helped shape one of the world's biggest nations is a bonus. This is an album in which Norah Rendell and friends, friends that include Brian Miller and Ailie Robertson, deliver some absolutely wonderful songs.

Norah Rendell, has a really emotive voice and one that I'm surprised isn't wider recognised as yet, though in fairness, I am talking for this side of the Atlantic, back in Canada, she has picked up her share of awards.

"Spinning Yarns" is a story album, novellas in aural form and one that should appeal not only in the more Celtic fringes, but right across the acoustic spectrum as it's very much an album that captures the essence of folk music and comes with context and content.

Neil King