★★★★
The story of Shirley Collins has been one of 2016’s most unexpected tales – one of a celebrated folk hero from the ’50s and ’60s, long consigned to cult status due to not singing for nearly 40 years.
At 81, Collins has finally returned to the world of music – and if Lodestar is anything to go by, said world will embrace her once again with open arms.
A collection of traditional songs and ballads that stem as far back as the 1700s, the album gently guides Collins’ weathered and foreboding voice through sparsely populated arrangements and fluttering ambience. It launches forth in considerable fashion, making up for lost time with the 11-minute medley, ‘Awake Awake/The Split Ash Tree/May Carol/Southover’ – a piece full of haunting mandolins, a wash of bagpipes and a gorgeous assembly of folk instrumentation.
Elsewhere, the creaking tragedy of ‘Cruel Lincoln’ is smartly contrasted with the chirp of birds and the rustle of trees, while the playful ‘Old Johnny Buckle’ gets a proverbial cherry on top as Collins gently chuckles to herself at its conclusion.
For an album released in the 21st century, Lodestar has an otherworldly timelessness to it, making it very easy to lose oneself in. A breathtaking journey.
Shirley Collins’Lodestaris out now on Domino.
