Full Review

Bella Hardy – In the Shadow of Mountains

Bella Hardy’s 2007 album ‘Night Visiting’ marked the arrival of a strikingly fresh artist; one obviously heavily influenced by the tradition but also a skilled songwriter as demonstrated by ‘Three Black Feathers’, nominated for song of the year at the BBC Folk Awards.

Following this celebrated album could have proved a daunting task, but ‘In the Shadow of the Mountains’ is an impressive and confident collection that demonstrates she’s an artist to be reckoned with.

The eleven tracks on this album are a balanced mix of her own songs and traditional ballads, with the common theme of her own fiddle alongside appropriately atmospheric arrangements by the stunning musicians. Her regular touring musicians Corrina Hewat (harp) and Chris Sherurn (concertina) are joined by Anna Massie (guitar), and a few string players, and assorted Hardy family members on vocals on ‘All in the Morning’.

The whole album flows seamlessly from the tradition through to her own material, but it’s no coincidence that the strongest tracks are her own songs, ‘Smoke & Ashes’ is influenced by Michael Morpugo’s book ‘Out of the Ashes’ and explores the personal tragedy of foot & mouth disease, ‘Sylvie Sovay’ is a modern reading of the trad song ‘Sovay’, and beautiful melody and arrangement of ‘Mary Mean’ make it the highlight of this excellent album.