''Heart's Ease'' is the eighth solo studio album by English folk singer

Shirley Collins Shirley Elizabeth Collins MBE (born 5 July 1935) is an English folk singer who was a significant contributor to the English Folk Revival of the 1960s and 1970s. She often performed and recorded with her sister Dolly, whose accompaniment on ...

. It was released on 24 July 2020 via

Domino Recording Company Domino Recording Company or simply Domino is a British independent record label based in London. There is also a wing of the label based in Brooklyn, New York that handles releases in the United States, as well as a German division called Dom ...

, a follow-up to her 2016 comeback album '' Lodestar''. Recording sessions took place at Metway Studios in Brighton. Produced by Ian Kearey, the album features contributions from Dave Arthur, Matthew Shaw, Nathan Salsburg,

Ossian Brown Ossian Brown (born 3 April 1969, London, England) is an English musician and artist, most notable for being a member of the groups Coil and Cyclobe. He joined Coil in 1999 and remained with them until the band’s cessation following the deat ...

, Pete Cooper, Pip Barnes, John Watcham and Glen Redman.

Critical reception

''Heart's Ease'' was met with generally favorable reviews from critics. At

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, which assigns a weighted average rating out of 100 to reviews from mainstream publications, this release received an

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score of 86, based on fourteen reviews. The aggregator AnyDecentMusic? has the critical consensus of the album at a 8.2 out of 10, based on sixteen reviews. The aggregator Album of the Year assessed the critical consensus as 84 out of 100, based on sixteen reviews. Writing for ''

The Observer ''The Observer'' is a British newspaper published on Sundays. It is a sister paper to ''The Guardian'' and '' The Guardian Weekly'', whose parent company Guardian Media Group Limited acquired it in 1993. First published in 1791, it is the ...

'', Neil Spencer praised the album stating that "''Heart's Ease'' proves a more confident follow-up". Ben Hogwood of '' musicOMH'' said, "The voice of

is blossoming again, delivering its compelling stories with the urgency of a singer who simply had to make this record. Collins is a musical key worker, her songs compelling at every turn". ''

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'' critic Tom Pinnock considered, "It's as touching, beautiful and dark as any of Collins' records, and even pushes her sound into new territories. 65 years into her recording career, that modern approach to

folk music Folk music is a music genre that includes traditional folk music and the contemporary genre that evolved from the former during the 20th-century folk revival. Some types of folk music may be called world music. Traditional folk music has b ...

is still yielding treasures". ''

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'' writer Fergal Kinney said, "it goes some way further towards entrenching her unique position in British culture".

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said, "''Heart's Ease'' goes further, revealing she's still a vital performer and an artist willing to explore new and unfamiliar territory, suggesting a more interesting future than listeners might have imagined". Robin Murray of '' Clash'' said, "It's a real banquet, a feat of folk re-contextualisation driven forward by the sharp emotional instincts of its formidable maker". Mike Goldsmith of ''

Record Collector ''Record Collector'' is a British monthly music magazine. It was founded in 1980 and distributes worldwide. History The early years The first standalone issue of ''Record Collector'' was published in March 1980, though its history stretches ba ...

'' said, "''Heart's Ease'' is ample evidence that Shirley Collins still has the ambition, passion and guts to not only document where folk has come from but where it's going. A lodestar, indeed". ''

The Guardian ''The Guardian'' is a British daily newspaper. It was founded in 1821 as ''The Manchester Guardian'', and changed its name in 1959. Along with its sister papers ''The Observer'' and ''The Guardian Weekly'', ''The Guardian'' is part of the Gu ...

'' critic Jude Rogers stated, "Collins' past, present and future come together to form a fascinating picture of her full, complex character".

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's Kieron Tyler said, "''Heart's Ease'' ends surprisingly, with the foremost exponent of England's vocal folk tradition". Emma Bauchner of ''

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'' said, "''Heart's Ease'' captures the Shirley Collins of the present day, and is in no way an attempt to recreate times passed. And yet the continuity is crystal clear: Collins' devotion to the folk tradition is as strong as ever. She continues to bring new life to the musical artefact that is the folk song, and the fact that she brings so many years of her own to these interpretations makes them feel all the more authentic".

Track listing

Personnel

– vocals * Ian Kearey – bass (tracks: 1, 4, 6, 10),

12-string guitar A twelve-string guitar (or 12-string guitar) is a steel-string guitar with 12 strings in six courses, which produces a thicker, more ringing tone than a standard six-string guitar. Typically, the strings of the lower four courses are tuned in o ...

(tracks: 1, 3, 8), angel guitars (tracks: 1, 7), soprano ukulele (track 1), mandolin (tracks: 4, 5, 9), electric guitar (track 4), percussion (track 4),

bottleneck guitar Slide guitar is a technique for playing the guitar that is often used in blues music. It involves playing a guitar while holding a hard object (a slide) against the strings, creating the opportunity for glissando effects and deep vibratos tha ...

(track 5), 12-string dobro (track 6),

lap slide guitar Slide guitar is a technique for playing the guitar that is often used in blues music. It involves playing a guitar while holding a hard object (a slide) against the strings, creating the opportunity for glissando effects and deep vibratos tha ...

(tracks: 8, 11), guitar (track 9), low guitar (track 10), producer * Dave Arthur – banjo &

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(track 2), harmonica (track 10), melodeon (track 11) * Pip Barnes – guitar (tracks: 2, 7, 10, 11) * Pete Cooper – fiddle (tracks: 2, 8, 10, 11) *

–

hurdy-gurdy The hurdy-gurdy is a string instrument that produces sound by a hand-crank-turned, rosined wheel rubbing against the strings. The wheel functions much like a violin bow, and single notes played on the instrument sound similar to those of a vi ...

(tracks: 6, 12) * Nathan Salsburg – guitar (track 8) * John Watcham –

concertina A concertina is a free-reed musical instrument, like the various accordions and the harmonica. It consists of expanding and contracting bellows, with buttons (or keys) usually on both ends, unlike accordion buttons, which are on the front. The ...

(track 11) * Glen Redman – dance (track 11) * Matthew Shaw – electric piano,

field recording Field recording is the term used for an audio recording produced outside a recording studio, and the term applies to recordings of both natural and human-produced sounds. It also applies to sound recordings like electromagnetic fields or vibra ...

harmonium The pump organ is a type of free-reed organ that generates sound as air flows past a vibrating piece of thin metal in a frame. The piece of metal is called a reed. Specific types of pump organ include the reed organ, harmonium, and melodeon. Th ...

Moog Prodigy The Moog Prodigy was a monophonic analogue synthesizer produced by Moog Music from 1979 to 1984. Of the 11,000 produced, versions released after 1981 included a control voltage/gate input on the back that allowed the VCF to be triggered and cont ...

(track 12) * Al Scott – mixing

Charts

References

External links

* {{Authority control 2020 albums Shirley Collins albums Domino Recording Company albums