Vicki Swan & Jonny Dyer - Twelve Months & a Day (2019)

Every one of Vicki & Jonny’s duo albums thus far (eight and still counting!) has thoroughly satisfied on all possible levels. Invariably sporting a healthy variety of material spanning traditional and contemporary folk song, traditional anglo and Swedish and self-penned tunes. Equally invariably, positively brimming over with enthusiasm and exemplary musicianship, always naturally, modestly and unassumingly presented.

And equally, invariably, each album project will take on some kind of common theme… But listeners may at first quite legitimately be struggling to discern the theme for Twelve Months And A Day, until viewed through the filter of the now-well-established Swan-Dyer tradition of slightly self-deprecating humour, which instead points to a theme of “no theme” (if you get the drift!). Bearing in mind Vicki and Jonny’s own summary of the rationale behind this new album – “We quickly realised that any decision to theme the album would force us to exclude much of the variety that we so love playing” – it’s a foregone conclusion that the theme of this new album is self-evidently Vicki and Jonny themselves and their enviably all-encompassing versatility both in terms of repertoire and assured accomplishment. (I’ve often said before that if I could play even one of their impressive tally of instruments even a tiny fraction as well I’d be very happy indeed!)