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There were several candidates for this week’s post. Candacraig‘s prog/art rock album, Lit by Lightning, nearly made the grade but, in the end, felt a little too formulaic. Storm Corrosion, a collaboration between Steven Wilson (Porcupine Tree) and Mikael Åkerfeldt (Opeth), was billed as “more spacious, ambient waters from either of their main gigs”, and that certainly hit the mark. But they were edged out by the rich, warm tones of Katie Spencer’s folk guitar and the intimacy of her voice.

“The Edge of the Land follows her debut release, Weather Beaten (2019) which was praised for its unique song-craft, spell-binding musicianship and crystal sonic clarity. Delicate and un-rushed, the ten songs on The Edge of the Land drift by like ships on the horizon, yet intimacy and introspection still remain.

Recorded live in the studio and captured in just two days, The Edge of the Land sees the return of Tom Mason on double bass, with additional percussion and piano provided by Arran Ahmun and Spencer Cozens, musicians who developed their craft in the John Martyn band.”

The Katie Spencer website

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On this world, the land ends where it meets the sea, and it is these coastal landscapes that provide the backdrop for Katie Spencer’s songwriting. She sings about the sights, the sounds and the people in those communities: the hills and the rivers; the waves and the skies; the fishermen and their headscarfed wives.

The ten songs on The Edge of the Land are all delicate guitar-based folk songs, the sort a bashful busker might sing on the streets of any city. But Katie’s instrument has the resonance of cathedrals, a double bass adds the depths of underground caverns, subtle keyboards provide extra body, and gentle drumming keeps the songs ticking along. There’s a lovely flügelhorn part, too, in Silence on the Hillside.

Katie will be on tour in the U.K. in the autumn, visiting towns and cities from Kinross in the heart of Scotland to Penzance in the far southwest of England. Here, in the East Midlands, she will be performing in the 1620s House at Donnington le Heath, a perfect venue for a solo folk artist or a small acoustic band. If you’re in the area on 8th November, it will be a treat. And, if you can’t get to any of her shows in the U.K., you can watch live in your living room on 19th September, when she will be introduced by Martin Simpson.