Martha Tilston may be steeped in the folk tradition but it’s taken her a surprisingly long time to make an unabashedly trad album.

Daughter of Steve Tilston, stepdaughter of Irish traditional singer Maggie Boyle, she’s spoken of her desire to challenge the modern world with songs about the environment and the corporate grind instead of “maids on the moor.”

But on The Sea (Squiggly Records) she jumps in at the deep end with an ocean-themed collection, drawing heavily from the tradition and from her family connections. Boyle, father Steve and brother Joe pop up as well as her uncle Kevin Whately — yes, Lewis from Inspector Morse — who proves a fine singer in his own right.