Having celebrated a decade as one of Scottish music’s most distinctively sublime voices, Emily Smith begins a fresh chapter in her career. For her fifth solo album Echoes, Emily returns to her first love of traditional song. Recorded over the space of a year Echoes expands the core group of musicians with whom she’s previously played. Together they’ve created an album with one foot planted firmly in Emily’s home of Dumfries and Galloway and the other in the unspoiled heartland of Nashville...

Echoes contains ballads like 'Twa Sisters' and the mythical 'King Orfeo' as well as contemporary but no less timeless songs such as Bill Caddick’s gorgeous 'John O’Dreams' and Darrell Scott’s 'The Open Door'. It's this mix of styles that ensures that Emily Smith's fans, both old and new, feel right at home.

The album contains 10 tracks (42 min) and, for me, it was an album that took a bit of getting into. The first listen through and I wasn't overly struck. Sure, there were tracks like 'The Open Door' which were instantly likeable, but others like 'King Orfeo' took a few listens to grow on me. But, once you're hooked, you're hooked.

Smith's voice is soothing, comforting and certainly one you'll grow to love.

8

Nick Smithson