On her fifth album, Heidi Talbot traces a distinctly personal path through a songbook mostly of her own making (in collaboration with other songwriters). That distinctive voice is still spick and span, fragile as a china doll but shot through with a steely resilience.
Talbot explores her role as artist, mother, daughter and wife with occasional touches of magic and intimacy (In the Year that I Was Born), surrounded by a panoply of fine musicians, from her husband, John McCusker, to Michael McGoldrick, Donald Shaw and cellist Su-a Lee.
Her decision to cover Natalie Merchant's Motherland is a puzzler, as she brings little fresh to a song that soared on the back of Merchant's richly textured vocals. A genteel collection, hinting at a songwriter beginning to flex her muscle, but with a journey to go.
