It comes as something of a shock to learn that Lady Maisery – the trio of Hazel Askew, Hannah James and Rowan Rheingans – have been around for over a decade now. Their music has always provided the freshest possible take on traditional music, whether through jazzing up the near-forgotten technique of diddling or tune singing, introducing elements of Scandinavian folk to songs from the British tradition, covering Todd Rundgren or writing songs inspired by physics. They bring that lively approach to tender, their fourth studio album and first since 2016’s Cycle.
Their sound has always been both disarmingly simple and often difficult to pin down – they are essentially a harmony trio tackling a mixture of traditional songs, originals and covers (though tender eschews traditional material completely). All three take turns writing, and all are multi-instrumentalists. You get the feeling that the band is an extremely democratic concern, and this is matched by the generosity of spirit and joie de vivre that seems to emanate from every minute of their recorded output (as well as from their exuberant live shows).
Though joy in performance is a constant, the songs themselves are often sad or angry – there is a strong political element to much of their previous material, and this is continued on tender. Even more prominently, there is a bittersweet personal note to many of these songs. This is backed up by the richer and often softer palette of sounds: there are more layers to tender than to any of their previous albums, both musically and in terms of theme and meaning.
It is not so much a new direction as a natural evolution, and this is immediately evident on the title track, a Rowan Rheingans composition which opens the album. Before an instrument kicks in, there is a soft wash of falling water. As this falls away, Rheingans’ banjo and Askew’s harp flutter around each other and the sweet, sad singing. There is a sense of something ending in the song, a deep-felt grief, but also a longing and perhaps a warmth, contrary to the lyrical descriptions of winter. It’s all done with a beautiful delicacy and attention to detail.
Askew’s Bird I Do Not Know is more upbeat and speaks of new beginnings – and all the bewilderment that comes with them – rather than endings. The impressionistic dabs of Rheingans’ viola and James’ accordion add sprightliness and colour. It is as if the album, which began in the depths of winter, has quickly moved into spring, and the feeling of hope and rejuvenation is palpable.
James’ first writing contribution is Echoes, a song about ageing and loss: loss of memory, of time, and the potential loss of a loved one. The more opaque lyrics create a quality of mystery which is heightened by the slightly jerky latticework of accordion and the disorienting production. At one point, the words recede into the pillow of the music before emerging again. These are the kind of touches that set the trio apart from all but the most original of folk bands.
Also of note is how varied and unpredictable their choice of cover versions has become. It takes a special kind of band to attempt a cover of Björk’s skittering dance-pop masterpiece Hyperballad, and an even more special one to pull it off. This version remains faithful to the song’s energy, coiled spring and sudden release of its structure without ever trying to be anything other than a Lady Maisery song. This is a band so confident in their own ability to perform that they can make one of the most distinctive and original songs of the past thirty years entirely their own.
Another cover, Tracy Chapman’s 3000 Miles, is no less impressive. It begins as an insistent, minimal banjo tune, but this sparse presentation only serves to further highlight the lyrical message: an angry, hopeful call to arms and a searing indictment of racial inequality and violence against women. The music whisks itself up to a sudden swell in the song’s final quarter as if inciting action on behalf of the women Chapman was writing about.
Lal Waterson’s Child Among The Weeds, originally from folk music’s great lost masterpiece, Bright Phoebus, is the final cover. It provides a perfect showcase for the three-part harmonies that have become one of the band’s calling cards. With the a cappella arrangement, it’s hard not to be impressed, not only with the group singing but with Waterson’s incredible ear for a melody.
One of Askew’s long-term lyrical preoccupations is with science, and on her song The Scientist, she creates a narrative that interweaves a warning about climate change with the very personal story of a relationship. It is an extraordinarily accomplished piece of songwriting and done with such deftness and lightness that it takes a few listens before the various meanings are teased out. Askew’s songwriting has gone from strength to strength, and she contributes four of her own pieces to tender. The Fall is an autumnal slow-burner full of eerily jingling percussion and highly evocative language which reframes the fall of Eve in the timeless framework of the passing of the seasons.
Askew’s final song, and the one that ends the album, is the highly ambitious Birdsong. On first listen, it sounds like a traditional piece, but on deeper examination, it is possible to discern several linked but distinct threads all contained within the extended metaphor of birdsong. The song could be read as a rallying call for female emancipation, a paean to the absolute joy (and the necessity) of creative work, or simply an ode to the beauty of the natural world and a warning against what we might lose.
The importance of the place of women in the world is a theme that runs right through tender, and it comes out again on Rest Now, Rheingans’ passionate plea to remember the roles of women who gave everything for the cause of suffrage and never saw the fruits of their work. Elsewhere, James’ Noughts and Crosses employs a more abstract method of songwriting that nonetheless manages to put forward a powerful message, in this case, the simple, transformative power of ‘blinding love’.
And that is what Lady Maisery do so well: get across incredibly powerful messages in the most memorable and distinctive ways. While this may be their first studio album in six years, they have come back with their strongest collection of songs yet and instantly re-established themselves at the forefront of British folk music.
Watch Lady Maisery performing birdsong live:
Lady Maisery Tour Dates
Tickets: https://www.ladymaisery.com/tour-dates
THU 3 NOVEMBER
The Guildhall, Leicester, UK
SAT 5 NOVEMBER
Kings PlaceLondon, UK
THU 10 NOVEMBER
The Stables – Milton Keynes, UK
FRI 11 NOVEMBER
Stapleford Granary, Cambridge, UK
SAT 12 NOVEMBER
Trinity Church, Abingdon, UK
SUN 13 NOVEMBER
Ropetackle Arts Centre, Shoreham by sea, UK
MON 14 NOVEMBER
Colchester Arts Centre, Colchester, UK
WED 16 NOVEMBER
National Centre For Early Music (NCEM), York, UK
THU 17 NOVEMBER
Square Chapel Centre for the Arts, Halifax, UK
FRI 18 NOVEMBER
Waterside Arts Centre, Sale, UK
SAT 19 NOVEMBER
The Hive, Shrewsbury, UK
SUN 20 NOVEMBER
Malvern Cube, Malvern, UK
WED 23 NOVEMBER
Firth Hall, University of Sheffield, Sheffield, UK
THU 24 NOVEMBER
The Station, Bristol, UK
FRI 25 NOVEMBER
Calstock Arts, Cornwall, UK
SAT 26 NOVEMBER
The Tolmen Centre, Falmouth, UK
SUN 27 NOVEMBER
Exeter Phoenix Arts Centre, Exeter, UK
FRI 2 DECEMBER
Muziekcentrum Dranouter, Heuvelland, Belgium
SAT 3 DECEMBER
Sint-Servatiuschurch, Herselt, Belgium
SUN 4 DECEMBER
Muziekclub ‘t Ey, Belsele, Belgium
Awake Arise Dates
with Jimmy Aldridge and Kit Hawes
FRI 9 DECEMBER
Dartington Hall, Totnes, UK
SAT 10 DECEMBER
St Ambrose Church, Bournemouth, UK
SUN 11 DECEMBER
Talbot Theatre, Whitchurch, UK
MON 12 DECEMBER
Liverpool Philharmonic Hall, Liverpool, UK
TUE 13 DECEMBER
St George’s Bristol, Bristol, UK
THU 15 DECEMBER
Grand Junction, London, UK
SAT 17 DECEMBER
West End Centre, Aldershot, UK
SUN 18 DECEMBER
Howard Assembly Room, Leeds, UK
MON 19 DECEMBER
St John’s Walton, Chesterfield, UK
TUE 20 DECEMBER
St Mary’s Church, Lowdham, Nottingham, UK
WED 21 DECEMBER
Jubilee Hall, Aldeburgh, UK