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Authentically musical, authentically from the heart
June Tabor’s voice is quite a magical one. The absolute reverse of technologically manipulated all surface no substance muzak, Tabor sings in a way which draws the listener into their own heart and soul. Her voice is both a clear channel for emotion, and deeply engaged with that. She doesn’t ‘perform’ emotion, she enables the emotion in the music to express itself, rather than expressing her own emotion. Her style is therefore that of surrender to the music and words, so that the listener can engage directly with the music, the language, and the musician serving the music.
I’m a big fan of music which is reflective, and initially was a little disappointed at the tracks which showed another side to Tabor – the French songs, which are more upbeat and playful, and also the tracks, such as the wonderful Selkie, and The Brean Lament, where in part she speaks rather than sings the narration, but I’m slowly coming round to the variety. This is the sort of music which you can imagine listening to, sitting in a snug little pub, somewhere on the Hebridean isles, whilst a storm outside is raging, and Tabor and the musicians take you into the deeps of the sea, and where the sea meets the land.
For me the long opening and closing tracks, Finistere and Across The Wide Ocean, express this most sublimely, and, without anything else, make this 5 star Even if a certain Bank does get in the way a little whenever Tabor sings the word Santander in ‘Finistere’!
Lady Fancifull 
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