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With a live session from Bella Hardy

Cerys Matthews brings you a live session from Derbyshire folk singer Bella Hardy.

Bella Hardy will be playing live tracks from her new album Songs Lost & Stolen and Cerys will be finding what inspires her songwriting on show favourite The Herring Girl.

Acclaimed Derbyshire singer Bella Hardy made a name for herself in traditional English music with her debut album Night Visiting, she was nominated for a 麻豆社 Folk Award. From its follow-up In the Shadow of Mountains, it was clear that Bella was more than just a fine interpreter of folk songs.

On Songs Lost & Stolen, Bella has combined the traditional styles and ballad forms that have always been at the centre of her work, with a gift for poetry and Angela Carter-inspired twisted tales. She's created an album that touches on both the fantastical, story telling elements of Kate Bush, and the lovelorn songwriting craft of Carole King. Songs include 'Bridge of Dean' - a tragic tale inspired by the fears that lurk in our own imagination, and 'Rosabel' - a retelling of the Beauty and the Beast fairytale, with hints of early Joni Mitchell. Opening track 'Labyrinth' explores the Greek myth as a metaphor for modern relationships, as the music swells with tempestuous, almost Florence & the Machine-like drama.

The album was produced by Mattie Foulds, a member of critically acclaimed collective The Burns Unit alongside the likes of King Creosote, Emma Pollock and Karine Polwart and a veteran of the vibrant Cape Breton music scene.

But at the centre of it all is Bella's soaring and captivating voice, inhabiting her characters and spinning her stories with an equal balance of strength and sensitivity. Songs Lost & Stolen is a stunning and ambitious step forward from a unique and fascinating songwriter.

2 hours

Last on

Sun 8 May 2011 10:00
麻豆社 Radio 6 Music

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Music Played

  • Other Lives

    For 12 (edit)

  • Louis Jordan

    Saturday Night Fish Fry

  • The Upsetters

    Corn Fish Dub

  • Woody Guthrie

    What Did The Deep Sea Say?

    • Woody Guthrie.
    • Folkways Records.
    • 2.

  • Booker T. & The M.G.'s

    Soul Limbo

    • Cafe Latino (Various Artists).
    • Telstar.

  • William D. Drake

    Song In The Key Of Concrete

  • Dillinger

    Dillinger - Woody Woodpecker

  • Syd Barrett

    Octopus

  • Neville Skelly

    Poet And Dreamer

  • Sam Cooke

    Summertime

  • The Jazz Corps

    Another Plumb

    • Another Plumb.
    • Liberty.

  • Sam & Dave

    Soul Man

    • Dino.

  • Nguuni Lovers Lovers

    Cheza Ngoma

  • Skip James

    Catfish Blues

  • The Maccabees

    Toothpaste Kisses

    • CD SINGLE.
    • Fiction.

  • X鈥怰ay Spex

    I'm A Cliche

  • Emmy the Great

    Iris

  • Tom Waits

    Better Off Without A Wife

  • Wee Willie Wayne

    Junco Partner

  • Orchestra Del Sol

    This Is Honkstep

  • Elmore James

    Dust My Broom

    • Virgin.

Broadcast

  • Sun 8 May 2011 10:00
    麻豆社 Radio 6 Music