The Underground of Happiness

A completely captivating album of English folk songs recorded outdoors in Lancashire with backing of birdsong. Mr Haywood is apparently also an ornithologist so this background bleed was no accident but part of his plan, as he relates here. Given that Dapple could be set in the 18th century, I was keen for there to be no motor vehicle noise, just in case the listener might prefer to imagine it that way. So the locations had to be out of the way, and some of the sessions started as early as 4am to beat the sound of the Abbeystead gamekeepers’ Land Rovers and Bowland farmers’ tractors. Days on which the breeze might gust above 5mph were avoided, which was good for reducing wind noise and for a preponderance of midges. Top notch stuff, eh? His singing voice is somewhere between Vic Chesnutt and Latka Gravas; this may not be to everyone's taste but wrapped around these pastoral-historical story songs, I dig it in a major way.

We've mentioned Bristol native Rachael Dadd twice in the last few weeks, first in relation to her new single Balloon , and then in advance of her new album . We've had the album, Bite the mountain , on around the UOH cabin for the last couple of weeks now and it really is a wonderful piece of work (It was largely recorded, apparently, while travelling around Japan, and the sleeve cover text reflects this influence.) On the face of it, it's a version of English folk music (the songs generally concern domestic or pastoral situations, with close-at-hand details), but let it sit a bit longer and strands of classical, jazz, world music and even some avant garde tendencies come to the surface. The single Balloon is a tune of uncomplicated beauty about a birth, which has an appropriate sense of wide-eyed wonder at the world. The stop-start piano waltz Moth in the motor begins straightforwardly enough, but goes on to hint at jazz inflections (not unlike the way Nick Drake does),...

English folk music with an unexpected twist, in the shape of sensitive oompah-style trumpet and saxophone accompaniment. And a singing voice featuring a great bruised vibrato (without going over the top, there's something of Billie Holiday about it). Wonderfully wistful taster for upcoming debut album. I like the tapping feet in that. *The single comes with the added pleasure of an authentically hissy version of the Andrews Sisters classic Bei mir bist du schoen (a Yiddish tune originally), with lovely muted sax wailing in tow.