Carpenter, Fowlis & Polwart. Astonishing, astounding, amazing. All of that. More.

Release Date: 24th January 2025

Label: Thirty Tigers

Format: CD / vinyl / digital

CFP…

Or should that be CFP, in the mould of other trios of such consequence, which might include CSN and PHR? (PHR? That’s Dolly, Emmylou and Linda, as the makers of Trio and Trio II were never actually referred to). If that sounds like hyperbole, it probably isn’t. Really isn’t, the three singers as gifted as any of the six aforementioned. Indeed, I would go further, this grouping smacks close to supergroup. How, where and why they are here together should not be as strange as it might first sound. Polwart and Fowlis are undoubtly the doyennes each of Scottish and Gaelic song respectively. Carpenter possesses a stellar legacy in her more Americana based universe, for forty years and counting.

The Polwart and Fowlis pairing is by no means new. They always destined to share stages, and have, many times, notably within the Spell Songs project. But, should the Carpenter link be more evasive, recall that the new Jersey born/Washington based singer has been part of the Transatlantic Sessions family since 2013, appearing in series 6 of the TV show (along with Fowlis), then touring with the ensemble into their annual UK tour. More recently, the three all shared the stage together, at 2023’s Celtic Connections, along with Robert Vincent, as part of a song circle themed concert. This was the cementing of any plan for this current project, with at least one song from that show duplicated here.

TRIO OR A SET OF THREE SOLOISTS?

Whether this will see them as a honed three piece or a set of three soloists is almost answered by Gradh Geal Mo Chridhe, clearly a Gaelic song and rightly sung by Fowlis. With a consequent frisson of fear that this means each are to just take turns, Fowlis leads out, a capella. the hint of a drone note brewing at the horizon. Some tinkles of piano creep in and it is glorious, of course it is glorious. Fowlis is incapable of less, but the relief as Polwart and Carpenter chime in is immense. Together they provide a warmer glow as the voices form a delectable trifecta, if too briefly, the lower tone of Carpenter especially lush. Ghostly fiddle begins swoop around their harmonies, this coming from Caomhinn O’Raghallaigh and his hardanger d’amore. Altogether stunning, if slightly concerning.

A PERFECT BALANCE

Any slight fear of sequential showboating does not last, however, as track two immediately places the three on level footing and together, in part facilitated by the band gathered about them. A Heart That Never Closes is a classic Carpenter construction, the power of her narrative and the clarity of tone undimmed, the memory diluted by too long away from the spotlight; “Time is just a bandit trying to steal what’s left“. Oof, I’d forgotten her power.

Carpenter takes the first verse alone, as the steady drums of Chris Vatalaro impart a sound scaffold. When the three voices gel it feels real, an organic fusion that is convincingly human, something less evident in the glacial starkness of the starter. Organ from Rob Burger swirls and all is well. The balance between voices and instrumentation is perfect. Credit that to producer Josh Kaufman, the Bonny Light Horseman so adept with country folk fusion. He is also responsible for guitar and additional keyboards, with Cameron Ralston on bass, mainly acoustic.

GOOSEBUMPS

Rebecca is a Polwart song that has been in her solo set for some time, and also part of the shared song circle from 2023. The band ornament Polwart’s picked guitar, transforming it into the style just unleashed by the song preceding. The trio goosebump the delivery with a yearningly smooth delivery, the match made, if not in Heaven, somewhere close. (Actually Kinlochmoidart House, in Ardnamurchan, pretty much the same, ahead of a later trip to RealWorld studios.)

And, if Rebecca is astonishing, the title track is positively transcendental. O’Raghallaigh, last heard of with The Gloaming, has his hardanger sparring with piano, muted drums and accordion, Carpenter infusing all her talent to a never more calm and conversational vocal. Polwart and Fowlis add their apparently effortless counterpoint, with the shivers further enhanced by Fowlis’s whistle. Almost unbelievably good, it is one of those songs where the arrangement ensures emotions to spill onto your cheek. We are in song of the year territory, and it is barely mid January!

MAXIMUM ENNUI

Polwart then extracts maximum ennui from her Hold Everything, the possibly dark lyric initially at odds with the celestial content the harmonies impart, ahead realisation the “darkness” is all positive and strangely uplifting: “Were you pleading for mercy or begging for bread? Were you shielding your children or lying alone in your bed?” Here, the hardanger creaks and sighs like that bed, elsewhere like some ancient farmyard appliance.

Fowlis now takes turn, with a rare excursion into English language, for Silver In The Blue, her song originally from 2021’s Source to Sea, her three song EP, with each of the three songs about Scottish rivers. This refers to the Clyde and the journey of the salmon to spawn. A slow burning build, it is another keeper, matching all the individual voices and sounds with a graceful magnificence. Like the song before it and Polwart’s Rebecca, never let it be said the women are sticking to any formulaicism of subject matter, Rebecca being sung from the viewpoint of a tree!

THE GIFTS KEEP A’COMING

You Know Where You Are picks up with delicate guitar and vocal from Polwart, atmospheric crashes of percussion providing a lustrous bombast, as the keyboard textures flicker in an atonal shimmer. A song about a bird, it is followed by another flying object, if much bigger, Carpenter showing she is just as able to pick up on the abstract and colour in a human voice. Satellite narrates the lonely circuit of abandoned and outdated spaceware, destined to circle the world forever. “Thrusters useless, fuel used up, contact lost, completely fucked“. Allegorical? Possibly and probably, if not to the singer. Gilded by whistle and clanging strings, it is entirely convincing. As accordion blends in, warming the mechanical groans of hardanger, and the gifts of this record just keep a’coming.

BLEAK & BOUNTIFUL

Back to Gaelic for Buidheann Mo Chridhe Clann Ualrig. This time the setting is within the context of the surrounding songs, unless, through conditioning, it has become surreptitiously applied. Bleak and bountiful both, it answers the question around the wisdom of including both the singer and the language, and prompting a further listen to the opener. This now sits more comfortably within the project, abetted by an understanding it was a late addition, a song initially by Fowlis, separately, and in the memory of Fergie MacDonald, an accordionist, whose favourite song it was and who died last year. Such was Fowlis’s delivery, it demanded inclusion, and the additional vocals.

SLOW BURN

The final song is another potent Carpenter slow-burn, which provides the perfect book-end, a song of and about love and when it is needed, even if just to yourself. Especially to yourself. With the glow imparted by the song lingering long after the sound has faded and the tingles have left. it demands playing again. Send Love, it is called. Do.

The three women embark on a short UK tour in March. On the strength of the record, these should be well nigh unmissable. (A second night has subsequently been added for Edinburgh, on the following day).

Hold Everything, carrying with it a glorious flavour of the recording process:

Mary Chapin Carpenter online: Website / Facebook / X (formerly Twitter) / Instagram

Julie Fowlis online: Website / Facebook / Bluesky / Instagram

Karine Polwart online: Website / Facebook / X (formerly Twitter) / Instagram