LINDA BANDELIER and DAVID CAMPBELL – Ae Fond Kiss (No Label)

Now, I really like this album but where to place it categorically I’m not sure. It could be classified under ‘storytelling’ with the main thrust from Linda Bandelier & David Campbell but that would be to dismiss the musical contributions of Hamish Moore (pipes), Mairi Campbell (fiddle) and Katie Harrigan on harp. Let’s just say it will prove something of an anomaly for those who like to pigeon-hole and I stand guilty as accused. None the less I found it captivating in that particularly at my age I enjoy the subtleties that ‘folk’ occasionally conjures up. If you’re thinking of hosting a Burns Night supper then this could well be the album for you. Both Bandelier and Campbell have expressive (what I’d call) ‘radio’ voices and captivatingly convey the legacy of Scotland’s number one son. The songs and music as you would expect are predominantly by Burn’s including the opening welcome “A Man’s A Man For A’ That” where the use of small pipes in harmony accompanied by the gently plucked harp prove a pretty irresistible combination and I can even forgive the inclusion of “Amazing Grace” which according to Google is a song written by the English poet John Newton so perhaps that particular track is purely there for commercial reasons? This is a proper ‘chill-out’ recording best enjoyed with a dram and cigar in front of a roaring fire and all the more pleasurable for that.

PETE FYFE