Folkatron Sessions - Home No More

Despite international travel having been difficult over the last year and a half, eight piece Anglo-Irish-French electro-folk-jazz collective Folkatron Sessions have still managed to deliver the goods with Home No More. Featuring two all new tracks recorded remotely and three live recordings, the EP picks up where previous release Skiver left off.

Guest singer Sam Lee’s unmistakably rich voice sways over the martial kick drum beat and throbbing bass line on opener Three Galleys, which builds to a speaker-popping conclusion. This is followed by the more relaxed vibes of An Bonnán Buí, where irregular timing and the shimmering tremolo on the looped guitar lines create a hypnotic effect.

The similarly dreamy Juhaan’s Night Train features a fragment of Estonian pipe music played on fiddle and reprocessed and looped back, though with a minimal amount of development it feels more like this particular train is held up at a signal.

The brooding Flower of Margherally on the other hand blends plucked fiddle with subaquatic synth in a perfect combination of the acoustic and electronic. A live rendition of My Son John featuring deep house vocal stylings over subtly-delayed strings closes the set.

The tasteful use of synths and electronic effects alongside acoustic instruments and considered choice of traditional material makes Home No More a noteworthy contribution to the emerging wave of electro-folk recordings, as well as a compelling listen in its own right.