Awkward Annie
Artist: Kate Rusby
Label: Pure Records
12 tracks (52 mins) 
 
“Heartbreak and grief and loss beyond words” is how Kate Rusby describes the personal background to the making of this collection. She is referring to losing two close relatives and breaking up with her husband John McCusker, who used to produce her work.
 
As a result Kate – with help from her brother, Joe – produced this album herself for the first time, and it has a slightly melancholy air about it.
 
This mix of traditional tunes and self-penned works tend to fall into two camps. There are tunes that stand out easily against those that would clearly work well live, when all the attention is focused on them, but which need extra attention paid to them on disc.
 
Highlights certainly include “High on a Hill.” Over some delicately plucked banjo the addictive chorus features some well matched vocal harmonies, mainly with Chris Thile, but with Eddi Reader's extra dynamic lifting it to another level. The five-piece horn section is underplayed beautifully, just adding a sense of climax without imposing itself.
 
“Planets,” a track she has described as ”more twinkly and twangy,” is another piece with a radio-friendly chorus that shows the warmth in her voice.
 
The songs that shine less brightly from a musical point of view tend to be those with a story to tell. “Streams of Nancy” is one track that tones the disc down a little and could do with being replaced by something like this album's take on the traditional song “Blooming Heather”. The latter's memorable melody is given a new depth by John Hudson's deep operatic vocal harmony.
 
The bonus track (Ray Davies' “Village Green Preservation Society”) is no mere bonus at all, but a fully-fledged fine piece of music that lifts the mood at the end as it sings the virtues of all things quaint and English, such as china cups, Tudor houses and custard pie. It counterbalances the lively – and slightly quirky – nature of the opening title track.
 
Throughout this disc this royal lady of British folk sings with a clear folk-twanged voice and is joined by top rate players, including Ewan Vernal, who has played with Lies Damned Lies and Wet Wet Wet, alongside folk scene stalwarts like Andy Cutting on accordion, McCusker and Andy Seward.
 
Despite the melancholy, this is a mature work with a lightness of touch and a fine balance of material.
 
Derek Walker  11/30/2007