Lizzie Nunnery - Company of Ghosts

The opening track, with its rattling military percussion, marching banjo and solid double bass, rather fools you into thinking perhaps this is going to be an album of full-band, straight-ahead folk-rock. Actually, this stride-out beginning lead into a selection of much quieter and contemplative material.

Lizzie Nunnery has one of those small, almost little girl voices,, and she writes songs that evoke landscapes of varying emotions and poetic metaphor, with an undercurrent of wistfulness and melancholy. She plays guitar and ukulele. Ukulele? Yes, but we're not, of course, in George Formby country here, nor even in the thrash-uke land of the Ukulele Orchestra - played subtly and quietly, the humble ukulele can produce some delicate melody and harmony lines.

Other musicians include Vidar Norheim on guitar, uke and percussion, Hugo Harrison on double bass, Sarah Lyons on clarinet, Joe Keelan on banjo and Lindsay Rodden on extra vocals. This array of back-up is actually used quite sparingly, allowing Lizzie Nunnery's voice plenty of space - minimalist might be too strong a description, but the arrangements (credits here to Lizzie herself and Mr Norheim) do seem to work on the "less is more" principle, and occasionally bring to mind the sort of sounds you might hear on Manfred Eicher's ECM label.

Intriguing and enigmatic, these songs have a haunting quality: mind you, I did like that stomping opening track, too!
Chris Beaumont
Fellside FECD 232 www.fellside.com