PETER KNIGHT’S GIGSPANNER

From Poets To Wives TALKING ELEPHANT

Introduction to folk trio led by former Steeleye Span man.

It’s a bit baffling how a lot of British folk remains ghettoised, as if existing in an alternative universe to rock and pop. Then again, you could say the same about a lot of modern prog. And the folk music former Steeleye Span violinist Peter Knight has created with his own trio since 2008 has been of a distinctly progressive, ruminative variety.

The name Gigspanner may not summon images of captivating, evocative instrumental beauty, but across this nine-track, hour-long compilation of their three albums to date, there’s an intoxicating atmosphere created. All but one of the tracks here are arrangements of traditional songs, but they’re a diverse-sounding collection, and unlikely to be much like versions the listener has encountered before. Over eight and a half minutes, an instrumental reading of Irish folk standard She Moves Through The Fair sounds faintly ambient, dreamlike even, at times, but then subtle Easternsounding percussion comes in, growing in intensity as Knight’s bow picks up the tempo creating an almost cèilidh worthy vibe.

The Blackbird is a more rousing affair from the start, as a tapdancing beat provides the platform for punches of guitar over which Knight’s fiddle flutters hypnotically like the titular warbler. In a similar vein, the slow-building jig of Urban’s Reel shows they can pen tidy tunes under their own steam.

When there are vocals, as in the stark tale of child murder Bows Of London, Knight’s delivery is understated, his voice not needing to add melodrama to an already haunting story. But this is by no means a one-man show: In Death And The Lady, Vincent Salzfaas sets a funereal rhythm on tablas as malevolent bass notes pace the floor, then elegant nylon-stringed acoustic licks from Roger Flack offer further stripes of melancholic colour.

They might not be gigging again for a while, of course, but for anyone needing encouragement to book tickets next time Gigspanner are in town, this will be the perfect sampler.