Albums: Hack-Poets Guild - Blackletter Garland

Folk music has been undergoing a massive overhaul in the recent years. While there are still many artists who loyally reinterpret classics or faithfully compose new material to emulate those classics, there are also those in the field who are reshaping and remoulding the soundscape of the genre to craft a nu-folk era. Three artists who do both the former and the latter have now united to create a folk supergroup. Hack-Poets Guild is the meeting of the minds of creative geniuses Lisa Knapp, Nathaniel Mann and Marry Waterson.

With each of the three artists having composed four songs to a collection of twelve new musical moments, the three prove themselves an innovative tour de force. Subject matter wise the album doesn't tread new territory - it is fuelled by love, life and death - but it is in channelling the tradition of folk storytelling and contemporary quirk that the lyrical side of the project shines.

However, it is in the magical mix of borrowing from older folktales and adding just the right amount of fresh ingredients into the mix that this collection excels. Opener, Ten Tongues, which is lead by Waterson, who is expertly joined in harmony by her collaborators, that the journey into a tempting new realm commences.

It is also the addition of subtle hints at other genres that lifts this collection even further. With a touch of punk on Hemp & Flax and trip hop on album highlight Something To Love Me, the trio show that their music is universal in appeal.

A striking debut, Blackletter Garland will see Hack-Poets Guild reach a wider audience than they may have first anticipated. Don't be surprised if this wins a few awards this year.