Joy & Sorrow

The prolific Kraus (two dozen-plus recordings in numerous permutations/collaborations, including Rusalnaia, Tau Emerald, Espers, United Bible Studies, and The Big Eyes Family Players) points a yin/yang mirror at broken relationships and doomy/gloomy aftereffects on her latest solo album. Song titles address darkness, sorrow, death, and danger, so this is not exactly the party album you’ll want to toss on at the next backyard BBQ. No, this should be savoured in the comfort of your own bedsit, contemplating Kraus’s personal demons while you reflect back on your own disheartened past experiences. ‘Figs and Flowers’ flickering, countrified melody flows across your swaying body on the back of Nick Davis’s singing slide and angelic choral harmonies from Nancy Wallace and Jenny Bennett, with Oliver Parfitt’s bubbling synth and Bennett’s recorder adding an elegant sheen.

For their second album on Chandos, Freddie Crowley and his Corvus Consort - joined by the harpist Louise Thomson - turn their attention to a rich vein of choral music written for women's voices and harp. Gustav Holst was a champion of women's voices and taught in several girls' schools, most famously at St Paul's Girls' School, Hammersmith, where he worked for almost thirty years.

For their second album on Chandos, Freddie Crowley and his Corvus Consort - joined by the harpist Louise Thomson - turn their attention to a rich vein of choral music written for women's voices and harp. Gustav Holst was a champion of women's voices and taught in several girls' schools, most famously at St Paul's Girls' School, Hammersmith, where he worked for almost thirty years.