Tunng
Woodcat

While it’s truly a beautiful thing that folk music is enjoying a resurgence of popularity – look no further than May’s All Tomorrow’s Parties line-up for the evidence, and the increasing profile of The Green Man Festival – the threat of saturation encroaches ever nearer. For every maverick act that attracts the attention of the mainstream – Akron/Family for example – there’s bound to be a handful of coattail riders; Tunng, I’m pleased to report, are no such band. Solemnly serene, ‘Woodcat’ is a delight of a single, from its gentle acoustic opening to the electronic rumbles and crackles that near collapse its fragile structure but minutes later.

The first song to be lifted from album number two, the forthcoming Comments Of The Inner Chorus, ‘Woodcat’ really requires little in the way of words to promote its subtle charms. A single listen will either endear or appall, so here’s a recommendation: listen for yourself, and make your own decision when the road finally splits. One route’s unmarked, and the forest to which it leads seems dark and inhospitable, tree branches bent into claws, trunks twisted and roots gnarled; the other clearly leads to the comfort of a town, where the same old songs play from windows, from street to street, from day to month to year. You can see the glow of a fire emanating from within the nearest picture-postcard-perfect thatched cottage…

Safety’s an easy ride, but don’t you yearn to know what’s beyond the forest?