Fairport Convention

It's almost a given that Fairport Convention will tour in the winter and the spring, headline Cropredy in the summer, and be continually involved with side projects. So with all that activity its hardly a surprise that new material from them is spoken in the same breath as hen's teeth. However, they have found some time and after four years we have Myths and Heroes.

The title track opens the album sprightly and it's a marker for things to come. Take the Fylde Mountain Time, a playful instrumental, Love at First Sight a lively tale of deception and, well love. On a more sombre note, and a couple of the albums stand out tracks, are the stark Weightless, and Home, a beautifully paced pensive, amble of a song.

Experimentation is not the order of the day but they are on slightly more unfamiliar territory with the harp flecked The Man in the Water, which neatly complements the compelling banjo driven Bring me Back my Feathers.

Overall, it's a fine album and if they never really move too far away from their comfort zone, Fairport don't sound staid. If anything they sound as if they are having an absolute ball and you can't really ask for much more than that.