Katie Spencer – The Edge of the Land Review

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Two days is all it takes to make a record this good. Katie Spencer sets the bar and then vaults over it with The Edge of the Land, a stunning and expressive articulation of folk sentimentalities. Recorded over just a handful of days is the quality folk albums of old had to them. There are lingering examples of progressive brilliance on The Edge of the Land, the sophomore release from Spencer that expresses not just an understanding of the genre and its range but the intimacy that comes from acoustic ballads pushed through with strong lyrics. Opening track Take Your Time takes that to heart and crashes through with a warm tease of what is to come.

Colloquial heroics are immediately present on title track The Edge of the Land, a delicate and lush piece of acoustics that gives not just a nod to Hull but a sincere understanding of Spencer’s unique qualities as a musician. There is something to those acoustics and the quiet drums shifting through from Arran Ahmun that hold the track together. Key to the tracks throughout this album, from the love letter to Hull on The Edge of the Land to the instrumental presence and charms of Roads, is a lush flow of sincerity and calm. Bear’s Tune wraps up the A-Side neatly with a strong display of Spencer’s instrumental, acoustic talents. Masking playing style intricacies as par for the course does much to play down the strong musical collaboration, in turn noting a consistent and hopeful folk release.

There is an autumnal feeling to Shannon Road, although that is more because of the emotive imagery Spencer features on the track than anything else. There is an understanding of location on Shannon Road that feels loosely reminiscent of the presence and power Marty Robbins’ The Streets of Laredo hold. Wormhole is the hidden gem tucked neatly away on the B-Side though, the strumming and acoustic guitar work from Spencer throughout The Edge of the Land are particularly strong, but here it is given even more room to breathe. Her track structure appears reliant on that acoustic form, and rightly so. Go Your Way is the finest piece of them all, paired neatly up next to Wormhole as a booming rendition of Anne Briggs’ folk classic. Spencer pushes that little bit further and crafts a beautiful, better version.

Should one message be taken from The Edge of the Land, it is that more folk albums should use a saxophone. Silence on the Hillside pushes through with that realisation and, in turn, offers a delightful, simple and subtle change of pace to keep not just consistency but to remove the sameness of tracks. That is the key to The Edge of the Land, it is respectful of its folk intimacies but Spencer is nowhere near afraid of pushing through with that new and exciting sound that the folk genre was desperately in need of. It is easy to say Spencer is an important voice for contemporary and progressive folk music, it is easier to believe after listening to The Edge of the Land.