Amelia Curran – Hunter Hunter

Recently winning a prestigious Juno Award for Best Roots and Traditional Album Of The Year in her native Canada, Amelia Curran's fifth album finally gets its UK release. With obvious grounding in country and folk, Curran moves through a number of varying styles and moods while still sort of sticking to her guns. It's hard to hear her accent and vocal style and not associate it with such genres but there are interesting touches to her work here that stand out. Hands On A Grain Of Sand sounds like a pretty standard ballad at first but it's so gentle and well-sung, accompanied by delicate banjo picking, that it's hard not to get at least a little pulled in. The Dozens, The Mistress and The Company Store however, have more of bluesy swagger to them, and manage to show off Curran's unexpectedly sultry side, as well as her smooth, confident voice. [Ryan Drever]