Peatbog Faeries

Blackhouse

(Peatbog)

There's a hint of long-term succession planning in the Peatbog Faeries's seventh album. Might Archie Maclean, the nine-year-old piper from Edinbane on the Isle of Skye who composed the remarkably mature and readily assimilated The Dragon's Apprentice, be being lined up as a future Peatbog? Time will tell because there's every likelihood that, as they've done here, the band will still be finding vigorous, attractive new contexts for tunes composed in the tradition when young Archie leaves school. Current recent recruit, Shetland fiddler Ross Couper has ensured a seamless transition because whether encased in the video-game soundtrack energy of opening track Is This Your Son?, the exotic world music feel of Tom In The Front or The Ranch's Doors/Santana-for-the-21st century electric guitar and keyboards flourish, the essential character of fiddle, pipes and whistle tunesmithing shines through. As the track titles suggest, every tune has a story behind it, and while this is a band that loves a hoolie, it's also capable of tender, atmospheric reflection.

Rob Adams