Bróna McVittie

★★★★ The Man In The Mountain COMPANY OF CORKBOTS. CD/DL Hypnotic, exploratory second album, haunted by folk horror. Bróna McVittie’s 2018 debut

We Are The Wildlife managed a tricky balancing act: marrying folk and electronics in a beautiful miasma of sound that didn’t wash over the listener, but presented fresh ideas and textures that needled long in the mind. The Man In The

Mountain sees the Northern Irish musician ramp up her ambitions further. It recalls the psychedelic wonder of Jane Weaver (The Green Man), the hushed cleverness of Emiliana Torrini (Falling For Icarus, with electronic duo Isan), Virginia Astley and Talk Talk (especially on The Lark In The Clear Air, featuring Norwegian improv trumpeter Arve Henriksen) and ’70s folk-horror (eerie flutes and harps are legion). McVittie’s voice is clear, hypnotic and uncannily timeless, floating between Broadcast’s Trish Keenan and Clannad’s Moya Brennan. A fantastic, exploratory record that draws you in. Jude Rogers