The brilliant Jim Moray has injected fresh blood and ideas into English folk for over a decade now, but his new album The Outlander is a deliberate excursion to a batch of Ye Olde Songs – even the ancient John Barleycorn makes an appearance – with acoustic arrangements that are mostly fairly old school but finely detailed, adding just a well-planned modernizing touch here and there.
It’s a pleasure to listen, even if this time there’s less innovation; it’s like spending a nice evening with a great minstrel and his band of merry players (even if many of the songs have quite sorry tales to tell). The only thing you have to bring to the table is a cup of warmed up wine or some other relaxing brew and you’re all set.
My only question: why the album title? We all know what Outlander brings to everybody’s mind these days… 😉
Oh well – whatever the album’s called, the contents are fab 😊
FolkNotes 