A new album by the great English folksinger June Tabor is always a treat, and An Echo of Hooves is no exception. The pleasure starts with the beautiful CD booklet, illustrated with dark, brooding photographs of the 16th century Old Buittle Tower on Auchencairn Bay. The images are a perfect match for Tabor’s deep woody voice, accompanied here not only by her longtime collaborators Huw Warren (piano, cello, piano accordion) and Mark Emerson (viola, violin, piano) but also by guitarist Martin Simpson on two numbers and by Northumbrian piper Kathryn Tickell on another pair of tracks – notably ‘The Battle of Otterburn’, featuring a singularly effective solo pipe backing.