Anchor

"A follow-up to their excellent 2010 mother-daughter record The Gift, U.K. folk luminaries Norma Waterson and Eliza Carthy lead a nimble six-piece ensemble on the richly reflective and occasionally whimsical Anchor. An especially poignant return for Waterson, who endured a harrowing illness that left her in a coma after their last release as a duo, Anchor is a powerful performance arriving late in her career and is a testament to both her strength of will and creative voice ... From Norma's evocative telling of Tom Waits' "Strange Weather" to Eliza's brassy and wild take on the Monty Python's Meaning of Life classic "The Galaxy Song," there's an ease of drama, humor, and confident mastery across the board".

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"Folk album of the month" - "Traditional numbers sit alongside newer songs like old friends. The Elfin Knight storms and rages, announced by thundering strings, while KT Tunstall's Shanty of the Whale becomes an experimental, atmospheric delight. Norma's cover of Nick Lowe's The Beast in Me, famously covered by Johnny Cash, is particularly moving, and there are many songs about stars and our place in the world, including Eliza's glorious romp through The Galaxy Song from Monty Python's The Meaning of Life. The record ends beautifully with a singalong of Twinkle, Twinkle, Little Star, reminding us how music connects generations of families, and keeps sparkling long after we've gone".

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"As you'd expect from this family, not one scrap of sentiment is involved in the formidable strength it wields. As the album opens with an eerie bass line, a dark and mysterious melody and Norma's familiar voice leading us into Tom Waits' brooding 'Strange Weather' you know that safe and cosy was never going to be an option. And the greatest fear - does Norma still even have a voice? - is instanly blown out of the water ... The overriding mellowness colludes with beautiful arrengements and the simple power of human voices in inspirational unity to create a very special album".