Shake The Blossom Early

This excellent debut album by London-based singer Helen Roche actually came out at the end of last year, but is too good to bypass for reasons of timeliness alone. Roche inherited her love of Irish traditional singing from her Liverpudlian father and grandfather, and has a fine dark reedy voice that comes across beautifully on spare arrangements like those here. Standouts include 'The Lisburn Lass', with McDonnell playing a haunting harmonium-like drone on piano accordion, and a lovely harp and cello setting of 'The Verdant Braes Of Skreen'.