Following quickly on the heels of her first album 'Turn to Me', this new disc not only picks up where that one left off, but it adds to and improves upon it in every respect.
The strength of Bill's ability was not in question, but the original disc was a stark affair without much variety in instrumentation; this time the addition of experienced hands such as Coope, Boyes & Simpson, Kathryn Tickell and Karen Tweed amongst others has made all the difference - this is a much more musically diverse and mature album.
The 11 tracks here are almost all of the 'Trad Arr' variety, with the exception of 2, one her own song and one a cover.
All the songs have their roots firmly in the British tradition, and have a huge amount of variety in the instrumentation and arrangement - from the unaccompanied title track to the excellent brass work on 'The Blackleg Miner'. Elsewhere the music is provided by a combination of guitar, accordion, strings, piano and whistles.
The choice of material is also varied and skilful, the album gets off to an excellent start with 'William Taylor', 'Tam Lin' and 'The Barley & the Rye' forming the first 3 tracks - it's a good start and the standard is kept up throughout.
While comparisons to Kate Rusby are inevitable, they're unfair; Bill is a distinct and individual talent and this is a strong trad folk album. 

£12.99