The latest releases reviewed.

CÁRMINA My Crescent City I & E Records ***

Carmina's latest collection, produced by Dónal Lunny, suggests a band unhurried in time and unflustered in music. Whispers of Moving Hearts at their spacious, innovative best, as well as Van during his No Guru, No Method, No Teacher period, infuse this quietly confident set piece. Vocalist Pippa Marland bestows a smoky, languid air to a gathering that boldly takes possession of the iconic Lord Franklin (to which the late Micheál Ó Domhnaill was sole and rightful heir for many years), and guest piper Diarmaid Moynihan bores deep beneath the surface of Twenty Three in the Morning. Oddly, at times bodhrán, whistles, pipes and bouzouki add too much noise to Carmina's relaxed mix, their jazz roots almost confused by the plethora of sounds vying for space. Still, the pleasurable maturity of the playing and the sense of ego-free collaboration is a joy to visit and revisit. www.carmina.co.uk SIOBHÁN LONG

MARTIN SIMPSON Prodigal Son Topic Records ****

Martin Simpson' latest collection is a world bathed in riches so diverse that they transport the listener from south Yorkshire to North Carolina, New Orleans and the Scottish Highlands, taking ample time to draw breath wherever they alight. Simpson sounds uncannily like Andy Irvine at times, and his complex guitar lines shore up a wealth of biographies. Some are of his own making. Others are borrowed from seminal English folk tales (Little Musgrave), rawhide blues ballads (Leadbelly's Duncan

& Brady glistens with fresh life) and contemporary songsmiths such as Randy Newman, whose Louisiana 1927 is dusted off and reinvigorated with a magnificent, ferocious mix of anger and irony. Layer over layer of detail are all ripe for picking by listeners with more time on their hands than a three-minute download will demand. www.martinsimpson.com SIOBHÁN LONG

Download tracks: The Granemore Hare, La Rivolte