Southern Tenant Folk Union: Hello Cold Goodbye Sun

Blending Scottish trad, bluegrass and classic British folk, STFU’s latest album demonstrates a willingness to take folk beyond the usual boundaries.
The good-timey mix of voices, banjo, mandolin, fiddle and sundry other acoustic instruments is upbeat on the surface, yet disturbingly dark beneath. Haunting harmonies on the low-key opening track, ‘Goodbye Sun’ offer a taste of things to come, while ‘Spey River’ and ‘Men In Robes’ depict themes of future economic collapse and a dystopian post-oil landscape. The sonics are as adventurous as the lyrics – on the unsetting, ‘Crash’ a tea-towel is utilised to deaden the strings of the banjo which is played in a repeat arpeggio style. Elsewhere, vocalist Carrie Thomas brings an other-worldly atmosphere to ‘Aberdour’.
The most chilling track is also the most innocent sounding: ‘Days At The Seaside With Ice Cream’ is a murder ballad adapted from a Donald Ker poem where the disposal of ‘Daddy’s’ body is disguised as a family motoring trip to the seaside (“Mamma went and got the axe / And drove it through his brain / Now we can’t take the train.”). Goodbye son (sic) is right!