(Resilient)
No one has evoked the landscape and traditions of Northumbria more affectingly than Kathryn Tickell; a champion of the Northumbrian pipes, she is steeped in the songs and mythology of the north-east. Although she has issued more than a dozen albums since her 1984 debut, her dedication finds fresh inspiration and expression on Hollowbone, which mixes pipes and fiddles with mandolin, synth and accordion, and leans towards songs and vocals. It’s a clever shape-shifter of a record, founded on an exceptional five-piece band but unafraid to veer into a cappella voices and ambient moods.
From tradition come instrumentals such as Morpeth and Cockle Bridge alongside Old Stones, Tickell’s homage to Lindisfarne, one part reflective and eerie, one part wild jig. Oldest of all is Nemesis, a piece handed down from Emperor Hadrian’s favourite musician, with its tribute to the “dark-eyed daughter of justice” reshaped for modern times. There’s an old mining song in geordie dialect, Colliers, an antique rhyme, Aboot the Bush, suffused in synth and fractured rhythm and a poem from Tickell’s father, Holywell Pool, delivered like an incantation by female harmonies. A hollowbone is apparently a shamanic instrument for channelling ancient voices; a perfect title.
