Seth Lakeman

Lakeman has emerged from the West Country to his first major label release with, apparently, both soul and heart intact.
Freedom Fields was originally released on his own label but has had a few of the songs re-recorded and, as he says himself, “it sounds bigger but still my music”.
As to what ‘Freedom Fields' is, it is a superb piece of modern folk music, delicately recorded and demonstrating excellent musicianship as well as true folk sensibilities.
This isn't ‘hand-on-ear' folk in the old style, rather he takes the genre and adds some modern song structures but keeps the feeling intact. Songs such as ‘The White Hare' or ‘The Charmer' sound almost contemporary while ‘1643' or ‘Childe the Hunter' could almost have come from any of the folk clubs and pubs of the last three hundred years. There isn't a single electric instrument on any of the album's 13 tracks and there is a closeness to the recording that suits the material and the musicians equally.
Lakeman is a very talented and original musician working in a genre that deserves his energy and lyrical talents and ‘Freedom Fields' is one of the freshest and most involving albums around.