KARINE POLWART TRIO
Pontardawe Arts Centre
Fri 19 Oct
Six-time BBC Folk Award winner, and current holder of 2018 Folk Singer Of The Year, Karine Polwart, visits Pontardawe on the day of her new album’s release. Laws Of Motion is the latest in a string of albums both critically acclaimed and a pleasure to Polwart’s ever-growing fanbase. The album, brilliantly held together by the title’s central theme, covers ground from Polwart’s Midlothian roots to Japanese gardens, Jewish immigrants and the birthplace of Donald Trump’s mother, the Isle of Lewis. The latter song, I Burn But I Am Not Consumed} is told in the voice of the ancient rock below the island itself.
Although most of Laws… is conventionally sung modern folk, this curious rebuke of Trump attempts to realign POTUS’s policies through spoken word and song – picking up where previous release, A Pocket Of Wind Resistance left off, full of influences from Polwart’s theatrical sound design work. Like all great modern folk musicians who have found fame with their more accessible, song-centred repertoire, Polwart’s live concerts move easily between the more traditional and contemporary.
This tour sees her, once again, take to the stage with her regular trio of bandmates, Igne Thomson, accordion and brother Steven Polwart, guitars. The three musicians combine in spellbinding, delicate arrangements that deftly accompany Polwart’s vocals in impressive style.
Tickets: £22. Info: 01792 863722 / www.pontardaweartscentre.co.uk
words John-Paul Davies