Full Review

Heidi Talbot – The Last Star

Heidi’s debut solo album ‘In Love and Light’ was one of the albums of 2008, and since then she’s gone on and played a huge amount of shows with her fantastic ‘all-star’ band; this time on the road shows through on this album in the confidence and quality of the arrangements – this is a disc of understated quality throughout.

There was little debate about the beauty of Heidi’s vocals, and here she sounds even better than ever, but this album also showcases her songwriting debut. She mixes traditional songs with her own compositions, and it’s testament to the quality of her writing and arranging that the modern songs and trad material fit together effortlessly. Interestingly, the traditional folk songs are a little off the beaten path, with a handful of songs that will likely be new to almost all listeners.

Beautifully produced by John McCusker, the core band of musicians are Boo Hewerdine, Kris Drever, Ian Carr & Ewan Vernal, with contributions from Eddi Reader, Karine Polwart, Michael McGoldrick and Andy Cutting. You’d expect perfection from such an illustrious list of contributors, and the album doesn’t disappoint with real quality at every turn.