It must be difficult pursuing a career as a respected folkie while looking like a receptionist. But to her credit, Eliza Carthy has become increasingly enamoured with confounding expectations. The daughter of British folk guitarist/vocalists Martin Carthy and Norma Waterson would appear to have little interest in pandering to the folkie grail on this, her seventh solo outing.
And so, Dreams Of Breathing Underwater proves to be far from your regular folk album. From the ethereal splendour of ‘Lavenders’, through the swelling, White Album-esque meanderings of ‘Follow The Dollar’ to the cartoon-burlesque stomp of ‘Oranges And Seasalt’, Carthy’s orchestral ideas interfuse in a brilliantly haphazard, Bjork-like fashion.
It shouldn’t work, and often it doesn’t. Much of the experimentation is admirable, but the imaginative arrangements are often let down by the artist’s indifferent lyrical dexterity. Even tracks with promisingly bonkers titles like ‘Hug You Like A Mountain’ and ‘Little Bigman’ wind up being merely about love and stuff.
Despite the drawbacks, Dreams Of Breathing Underwater remains full of interesting rhythms and energy. Although the majority of the material shows a depth of knowledge to be expected from the daughters of respected folk musicians it also manages to reveal a contemporary writer/musician who has more in common with the varied stylings of Wainwright, Waits and Newsom than any traditional folk artist.

KEY TRACK: ‘LAVENDERS’