''Traces'' is the fifth studio album by

Scottish Scottish usually refers to something of, from, or related to Scotland, including: *Scottish Gaelic, a Celtic Goidelic language of the Indo-European language family native to Scotland *Scottish English *Scottish national identity, the Scottish ide ...

folk Folk or Folks may refer to: Sociology *Nation *People * Folklore ** Folk art ** Folk dance ** Folk hero ** Folk music *** Folk metal *** Folk punk *** Folk rock ** Folk religion * Folk taxonomy Arts, entertainment, and media * Folk Plus or Fol ...

musician

Karine Polwart Karine Polwart ( ) (born 23 December 1970) is a Scottish singer-songwriter. She writes and performs music with a strong folk and roots feel, her songs dealing with a variety of issues from alcoholism to genocide. She has been most recognised fo ...

, released in 2012. It was her first solo album in four years, though she had appeared as part of the collaborations

Darwin Song Project ''Darwin Song Project'' is a compilation album, released on 7 September 2009. It features folk artists from the UK and North America, who were tasked with the creation of new songs that had a "resonance and relevance to Charles Darwin". The ar ...

The Burns Unit The Burns Unit was an eight-piece Scottish-Canadian folk music supergroup. The band formed in 2006, after the musicians met at Burnsong, a Scottish songwriting retreat. The band members come from varying musical genres including folk, pop and r ...

and

The Fruit Tree Foundation The Fruit Tree Foundation was a Scottish musical project founded by Idlewild guitarist Rod Jones and former Delgados vocalist and guitarist Emma Pollock in 2010. Created in conjunction with the Mental Health Foundation, the project's overall ...

. The album included a new recording of "We're All Leaving" (previously recorded as part of the Darwin Song Project) and nine new songs, including tracks inspired by the

Occupy London Occupy London was a political movement in London, England, and part of the international Occupy movement. While some media described it as an "anti-capitalist" movement, in the statement written and endorsed by consensus by the Occupy assembly i ...

protests ("King of Birds"),

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's controversial golf course development in Aberdeenshire ("Cover Your Eyes") and the 1982 murder of Susan Maxwell ("Half a Mile"). More whimsically, "Tinsel Show" is about

Grangemouth Refinery Grangemouth Refinery is a mature oil refinery complex located on the Firth of Forth in Grangemouth, Scotland, currently operated by Petroineos. It is the only operating crude oil refinery in Scotland (following the cessation in 2014 of Bitum ...

. "Tears for Lot's Wife" is based on a poem by

Anna Akhmatova Anna Andreyevna Gorenko rus, А́нна Андре́евна Горе́нко, p=ˈanːə ɐnˈdrʲe(j)ɪvnə ɡɐˈrʲɛnkə, a=Anna Andreyevna Gorenko.ru.oga, links=yes; uk, А́нна Андрі́ївна Горе́нко, Ánna Andríyivn ...

. Although all of Polwart's albums except '' Fairest Floo'er'' were released with lyric booklets, ''Traces'' was the first to contain

liner notes Liner notes (also sleeve notes or album notes) are the writings found on the sleeves of LP record albums and in booklets that come inserted into the compact disc jewel case or the equivalent packaging for cassettes. Origin Liner notes are desce ...

explaining the background to all of the songs. The album was Polwart's first official UK Top 75 entry, peaking at number 57. ''Traces'' was shortlisted as Best Album for the

BBC Radio 2 Folk Awards The BBC Radio 2 Folk Awards celebrate outstanding achievement during the previous year within the field of folk music, with the aim of raising the profile of folk and acoustic music. The awards have been given annually since 2000 by British ra ...

2013, with "King of Birds" shortlisted as Best Original Song and Polwart as Folk Singer of the Year.BBC Radio 2 Folk Awards nominations 2013
/ref> ''Traces'' was also shortlisted for Album of the Year at the

Scots Trad Music Awards The Scots Trad Music Awards or Na Trads were founded in 2003 by Simon Thoumire to celebrate Scotland's traditional music in all its forms and create a high profile opportunity to bring the music and music industry into the spotlight of media and ...

and the Scottish Music Industry Association's SAY (Scottish Album of the Year) award.

Track listing

#"Cover Your Eyes" #"King Of Birds" #"Tears For Lot's Wife" #"Don't Worry" #"We're All Leaving" #"Tinsel Show" #"Strange News" #"Sticks 'n' Stones" #"Salters Road" #"Half A Mile"

References

{{Authority control Karine Polwart albums 2012 albums