Martha Tilston - Machines Of Love And Grace
Artist: Martha Tilston
Album: Machines Of Love And Grace
Label: Squiggly
OUT NOW
Rating: 4/5
Martha Tilston is back this week with her brand new album Machines Of Love And Grace - her first solo album since Lucy and the Wolves back in 2010.
And with this new record she has delivered a collection of folk tracks that really will cement her as a force in this genre of music.
Stags Below is the opening track on the record and it has a real Celtic influence to it that is almost haunting in a way.
The song is a paean to freedom and the wild deer that roam the Royal Parks and is a fantastic acoustic track where Tilston's voice just washes over you.
The stripped back and acoustic feel is also present on the fantastic Silent Women as she sings about voices that are unheard.
But she also tackles contemporary subjects through her music and that is evident in Wall Street as this is a song about the uncertainty of the stock market.
The track is inspired by the Occupy movement in the U.S. and it is not an in your face political track instead she just asks the questions that are on the minds of many people.
And with More she looks at consumerism and Suburbia she tackles the idea of urbanisation.
With More in particular there is something very real in the words that she has written.
Tilston shows that the deeper end of her vocal is just as compelling as the top end of her voice.
There is a real ebb and flow to this track as Tilston is supported once again by a guitar as well as some fantastic strings that just add that little extra bit of something.
Martha Tilston has not simply written and recorded ad album she has raised questions and pointed fingers through her music.
Machines Of Love And Grace is a fantastic record that shows that Tilston is not afraid to tackle issues that are important to her.
There is perhaps a lack of pace on this record but other than that it is a record that shows a vocalist on top form.
Martha Tilston - Machines Of Love And Grace is out now
Click here to buy Martha Tilston - Machines Of Love And Grace
FemaleFirst Helen Earnshaw