Neil Spencer 

The Imagined Village: Bending the Dark – review

The folk collective combine modernity and tradition on their impressive third album, writes Neil Spencer
  
  


The folk collective overcome "difficult third album" syndrome with bravura playing and inventive songwriting. Once an unaccompanied Jackie Oates has delivered the antique murder ballad The Captain's Apprentice, the band concentrate on original compositions, using an array of tricky rhythms, dashing fiddles, mournful cello and winding sitar. Eliza Carthy's state of the nation Sick Old Man and the celebration of Wintersinging sit alongside the stately dub of The Guvna, the John Barryesque Fisherman and the epic 12-minute title track, with its dhol drum battle. It's a daring mix of tradition and modernity, but the group's skill and organic approach carry it off.

 

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