The new double-album from singer and multi-instrumentalist Josephine Foster, Faithful Fairy Harmony, out now from Fire Records, is a bravely iconoclastic release. The record showcases Josephine's unique brand of folk-tinged music to great effect.
On something like "Force Divine", a near-John Barry-like sense of instrumentation underpins Foster's haunting vocals, while on material like the transcendent "Eternity", the singer offers up a composition that suggests a neat blend of Joni Mitchell and classical music. Elsewhere, on the elegant "The Peak of Paradise", one can hear a trace of two of the work of earlier pioneers like Kate Bush and June Tabor, while "Lord of Love" lets the folk-y influences on Foster's art shine through a bit more obviously, Josephine's quavering voice anchored by flashes of acoustic guitar.
Faithful Fairy Harmony is a bold release, one that should please fans of any of the acts I've mentioned above, even as it offers up a new form of folk-rock. The double-record, out now on Fire Records, is ambitious and intimate, the sort of thing that confounds nearly as much as it enlightens.
[Photo: Uncredited promotional picture]