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Folk album reviews with STEVE JOHNSON: March 18, 2024
Sunderland community soup kitchen, sea mists over East Anglia, and unique north English folk fusion: reviews of Martyn Joseph, Honey and the Bear and Hirondelle
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Martyn Joseph
This is What I Want to Say
(Pipe Records)
★★★
THIS latest album by Welsh singer-songwriter Martyn Joseph takes him on a reflective journey of the last two years since his previous album 1960. Having lost his father and becoming a grandfather and father again, the 11 songs deal with aspects of his own history and the world outside.
The opening song, Folding, uses the Welsh word hiraeth to reflect the sense of longing for a place of home. This theme of welcome runs throughout with Waiting for the Rain that imagines a new kind of home in Wales for those forced to flee conflict in Syria.
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