Ninebarow - The Colour of Night (2023) Hi-Res

Ten years and five albums into their career (from pretty much a standing start), folk duo Ninebarrow have crafted their finest album to date. While there’s a trend in current folk to be a bit more earthy and ramshackle, Jon Whitley and Jay LaBouchardiere instead strive for musical perfection. And there’s room for both approaches – and everywhere in between – in the vibrant and varied British folk scene. For Ninebarrow, this is the culmination of a decade-long artistic coherence, and The Colour of Night is pure class.

The duo expanded from early beginnings to perform as a trio featuring Lee MacKenzie on cello and as a full band, adding John Parker on double bass and Evan Carson on percussion. The whole lineup features in various forms, adding texture, technique and tenacity to the finely curated eleven tracks. Renowned producer Mark Tucker captured the musical magic and also added extra percussion.

Six songs are by Jon and Jay, alongside an eclectic mix of well-chosen covers and a radical reworking of a Wiliam Barnes poem set to a new tune. The album arrives with what became an anthem for the duo during their pandemic-enforced online concerts (which were so successful and technically proficient they are still happening). House is by indie songwriter Patrick Wolf, an ode to domesticity and togetherness under one roof. Its straightforward heart-on-the-sleeve sentiments could end up seeming corny, but here it’s evocative, poignant and moving.

The same is true of Ninebarrow’s composition, Walk With Me, which celebrates Jon and Jay’s personal and professional relationship. But it has a universal appeal to anyone who has found joy and comfort in companionship: ‘I could walk alone/ But would you walk with me?’

It’s just one of a fine set of new songs, the most affecting being Names in the Sky. They were inspired by a BBC Radio 4 programme of the same name, which told the story of a children’s hospice in Wales Tŷ Hafan (‘House of Hope’). A sound artist, Justin Wiggan, was asked to create a ‘sonic memory garden’ for the home. What he did was quite extraordinary: inspired by birdsong in the hospice garden, using an algorithm, he turned the names of children who had passed away into birdsong to play alongside the real bird’s calls. Now, the birds are learning them and, as they migrate, are singing the children’s names far across the world. The song simply and sensitively brings the story to life. Both heartbreaking and uplifting, Names in the Sky is simply beautiful.

Kitty’s Song is a rare beast for a duo renowned for their vocal harmonies, being an instrumental but showcasing Jon’s sensitive piano playing. The tune segues into the well-known folk song, The Snows They Melt the Soonest. You may have heard many renditions before, but Jon and Jay’s take – inspired by the redoubtable Dick Gaughan’s version – is dreamy and divine, with the pair sounding as perfectly matched in harmony as their very best work. It may be the only traditional song on the album, but it’s a corker.

The album closes with a cover of Nick Drake’s River Man. I always find it hard to contemplate anyone approaching or even matching the late, tragic and much-admired songwriter’s recordings, let alone recording what has become one of his most admired compositions. But this is different. Jon’s piano-based version is a revelation; it is a new interpretation that stays faithful to the Harry Robertson arrangement of the tricky 5/4 time signature. Drake’s original will always be my first love, but Ninebarrow’s reworking is a delightful bit on the side.

Ten years in, the cottage industry of Ninebarrow, with their live streams, walking books and tours, and musical holiday breaks, has returned to what started it all: immaculate arrangements of beautiful songs to delight the ears and stir the soul. It’s worth purchasing the Songbook that accompanies the music, which is beautifully put together with images, lyrics and in-depth explanatory notes on each song. This is an album to treasure.