Portman's ability to weave new songs from old yarns, unveiled on her 2010 debut The Glamoury, is maintained with verve on this follow-up. Again the Northumberland-based singer mixes antique folk with myth and touches of magical realism, as in Hinge of the Year – inspired by Angela Carter's Nights at the Circus – a new year's tale with "vodka, wine and blood in the gutters". Portman's ethereal vocals work well enough alone but are best showcased by the cello and viola accompaniments of Sleeping Beauty and Ash Girl, both reminders that faerie land can be a dark and brooding realm. Marvellous.