Olivia Ross - Grace the Blue (2023) [Hi-Res]

Why has Olivia Ross waited so long to deliver her first solo album? Listeners to 'Grace The Blue', due for release this September and featuring mainly her own work with a select mix of key influences, will be mystified that such an assured, mature work is a debut. Her smoke and honey tones wouldn't be out of place in a jazz club, and the soulful delivery conjures Americana and the Scottish tradition equally well. But it all comes together as more than the sum of its parts in an authentic and utterly distinctive voice.

Lovers of The Shee already know this having followed her over their four albums and almost 20 years of touring. The new revelation here is Olivia's work as a songwriter and tunesmith which place her firmly in the tradition of Carole King, Laura Marling and June Tabor.

Some of her Shee colleagues feature in supporting roles with Signy Jakobsdottir on drums and percussion and Laura Beth Salter on mandolin and backing vocals. The rest of the band line up boasts of Traditional music's finest musicians; Anna Massie on Guitar, Rory Matheson on piano, James Lindsay on double bass and Calum Stewart on wooden flute and whistles, with special mention of Olivia's mum, Maureen Ross adding a backing vocal on Track 9. Grace The Blue was produced by another Shee member Rachel Newton, who also provides backing vocals. With each and every track these musicians create the sympathetic soundscapes the lyrics deserve.

All nine featured musicians have brought their A game to this album, with Olivia's own fiddling to the fore. But the sensitive, spare arrangements of tracks like 'Little Sparrow' rightly let the voice and lyric do the talking. Never mind the long wait, this is a terrific debut from one of Scotland's most distinctive voices.