While mainly known as a folk/rock group, this wonderful new album is exclusively self-written material; it has a real feel of a singer/songwriter disc as it’s full of narrative songs, but the musical input of the five members has created a sound that is modern, detailed, and diverse.
The immediate highlight is Kathryn Roberts’ vocals; she has a distinct and versatile voice, from the restrained, piano led ‘For Carrie’ to the more upbeat ‘Wild Card’ she switches seamlessly, never becoming too soft or too strident in delivery across the different styles.
By their own admission, time touring the US over the past few years has influenced their songwriting, and while it is possible to spot these references (notably ‘Full Speed’ and ‘Drowning Man’), this is an album with a British feel in the diversity of instruments used and some of the lyrical themes covered.
It’s a musically subtle album with lots of little details, that shows time has been spent working with the twelve songs – there’s consistently excellent guitar work (both acoustic and electric), along with violin, piano, slide, woodwind, and banjo in places, and the guests include Cara Dillon, and Seth & Sam Lakeman.
There are many highlights here, the opener ‘Wild Card’ is an great track, lyrically excellent with a strong melody, creating a song with real immediate appeal; but the standout track is ‘Jack & Suzanne’, a strange, dark tale with excellent (if bizarre) lyrics, it has a certain ‘feel’ that makes it a memorable piece of work. ‘First Name Terms’ is a strong album in every respect, it’s well written, contains excellent musical and vocal performances, and has been thoughtfully and skilfully produced. An excellent album with wide appeal – recommended. 

£13.49