Taplas, Delyth Jenkins

Rachel Hair is never one to rest on her laurels and with this third album, she reinvents herself with characteristic aplomb. Joining her on this outing are guitarist and singer Jenn Butterworth and Euan Burton on double bass.

On her previous album, the sonds were in Gaelic. Now they are in English and Butterworth’s delivery coupled with her driving guitar style suggests a more mainstream popular approach. What shines through as ever is Hair’s sparkling and brilliant harp playing. There are some wonderful instrumental set. A couple of Swedish tunes romp along joyfully, with Fraser Fifield on soprano sax moving everything up a notch. The most appealing track is Home and Happy, a great original tune which is preceded by a lovel slow air from the Simon Fraser collection.
Taplas, Delyth Jenkins