CD.Reviews
Sweet Nightingale    Revisited    Gown of Green    Morning Tempest

Gown of Green WBCD 002   (now deleted)

Absolutely terrific! I loved their last album . . . English folk performers who've got something else to give their music . . . kicking it along. I think it's great!

Mike Harding: BBC Radio 2
(CD launch and interview with Jane & Amanda from Sidmouth Festival)

Sisters Jane and Amanda communicate so very well their love of and respect for the English folk tradition in which they are steeped; their first release, Morning Tempest, was deservedly well received, so why depart from a winning formula? Indeed, at first glance, Gown Of Green has many elements in common - fine Ollie Knight production, attractive and distinctive cover design, interesting and informative booklet notes. And of course the music - exclusively traditional material, in readings of intelligence and integrity, straight-down-the-line, no flavour-of-the-month gimmicks. But there's a marked difference in this new release.

The sisters' considerable vocal and instrumental skills are again augmented here by their touring partners Martin Ellison (melodeons) and Roger Edwards (guitar, anglo concertinas), but the tentative, even slightly polite feel that occasionally came through in Morning Tempest has been scattered to the winds, the foursome having been honed through extensive live gigging into a real performing band with an unerring sense of ensemble. That characteristic spring-in-the-step is still there in abundance, and the sisters' wonderful arrangements of well-loved songs like the "quintessentially English" Searching For Lambs, The Blacksmith (using the tune collected by Vaughan Williams and famous from Shirley Collins' recording), April Morn (indelibly associated with the late Tony Rose) and Shepherd Of The Downs (from the singing of the Copper Family) prove most refreshing, as do those of less-often-heard material like the uncannily infectious Horncastle Fair and the title track, and the (new-to-me) Devonshire variant of Cold And Haily Night.

The excellent recording allows for full appreciation of the sisters' vibrant sibling harmonies, which admirably complement their solid unison work, and brings out every nuance of the well-considered instrumental accompaniments. Absolutely top-class, make no mistake, and an essential acquisition both for the existing connoisseur of traditional song and for those newly converted to its delights.

David Kidman, The Living Tradition


This isn't a set that puts its best wares in the front window. Opening number Gypsy's Wedding is nice enough but, followed by the somewhat sombre Loyal Lover, it left this listener fearing that the record wasn't quite going to catch fire - an impression thoroughly dispelled by the next number, Horncastle Fair. Everything somehow came together from then on.

Their sources (ranging from Joseph Taylor to Vikki Clayton) are thoroughly explained in the liner notes. The Threlfalls' version of The Blacksmith is ostensibly based on Shirley Collins' (itself magical), but the warmth of their harmonies and the delicate accompaniment make this heartbreaker entirely their own. The same goes for April Morn, a glorious song - and I'm not just saying that because it was collected a mile from our house - that I'll forever associate with the late Tony Rose, but sung absolutely beautifully here. Their voices throughout are uncluttered and spot on: try the unaccompanied Cupid's Garden if you doubt me.

Beguiling as the Threlfalls are, Martin Ellison (melodeon) and Roger Edwards (guitar and anglo concertina) make a crucial contribution throughout, injecting tension into Cold and Haily Night (the first version I've heard where the bloke doesn't abscond in the last verse) and subtly driving Gown of Geen along.

There's quite a few pastoral idylls here, but it's to everyone's credit that these never come anywhere near being cloying. English traditional songs, a morris reel and a Methodist hymn, sung and played by people who really know how to treat them right. What more could you ask?

Nick Beale, fROOTS


Sweet Nightingale    Revisited    Gown of Green    Morning Tempest