Audrey Ryan
Album: Thick Skin
Label: Folkwit
Tracks: 10
Website: http://www.folkwit.com

Having made her name playing all her instruments herself, Audreyt Ryan throws caution to the (wood)wind and delivers a ten-song orchestral collection. Smart move for the strength and depth of her songwriting don't just carry the added weight of all this music, it flourishes.

There's a host of parallels to be drawn, from Elbow and Noah & the Whale, to Sufjan Stevens, Jonsi and even Bjork. Baroque folk chamber trad string pop, Thick Skin delivers complex yet accessible arrangements of some really quite beautiful songs like Nostalgia, Wherever You Are and the haunting Way I Am. Dangeling is playful, somehow drawing on The Association and the Beach Boys without sounding like either as her nimble voice flits between registers and tempos, while Lost & Lonely simply needs a home on mainstream radio.

Wandering off the beaten track has rarely been so rewarding.

Nick Churchill
www.thegranvillechambers.co.uk