Heidi Talbot - Here We Go 1, 2, 3 (2016)

'Here We Go 1, 2, 3' is Heidi Talbot's fifth solo album. Produced by musical partner and husband, John McCusker, (himself recently the recent recipient of the Good Tradition honour at the BBC Radio 2 Folk Awards) Heidi's new album crosses the ages, jumps into the unknown, traverses oceans and musical styles – from folk, through Americana, to classic pop, and back again. The Co Kildare singer / songwriter is joined by a host of musicians and co-writers on the album, including Louis Abbott (Admiral Fallow), Duke Special, Adam Holmes and Boo Hewerdine.

Recorded in Talbot and McCusker's self-built studio, housed in a converted eighteenth-century bothy next to where they live in the Scottish Borders, 'Here We Go, 1, 2, 3' is a measured and unhurried long-player which reflects on birth, and death, and getting older, from gorgeous country-pop meditation 'The Year That I Was Born' (co-written with Louis Abbott), through downtime bluegrass psalm 'Do You Ever Think Of Me', to exquisite mortal jig 'Time To Rest', written by Adam Holmes. Celestial torch song 'Chelsea Piers' (co-written with Duke Special and inspired by The Pogues) conjures a languid, late-night New York and recalls Talbot's years in the US, during which she sang with Cherish The Ladies, performed at the White House, and dreamed of home. Her cover of Natalie Merchant's 'Motherland' is particularly resonant in light of this.

The title track is inspired by an old gospel song. "I loved the idea of it being quite uplifting, of it not being a funeral hymn, even though it's about death," Talbot offers. The same could be said of a bright and beautiful album that touches on grief, depression and love. "It's as sad as you want it to be," she says, smiling. It's equally heartening, cheering and enlightening. Hope springs eternal.