Emily Portman & Rob Harbron - Time Was Away

Time Was Away is Emily Portman & Rob Harbron's debut duo album, comprising eight English folk songs and two 20th century poems set to music. The album is a quietly powerful masterwork that deftly treads the tightrope between contemporary and timeless, weaving together an intricate tapestry of story - songs on themes of resilience and resistance in the face of loss, hardship, hunger and brutality, opening a window into our past with tales that still resonate deeply in contemporary Britain.Emily's crystalline vocals and homespun banjo-playing are complimented by Rob's understated musicianship as he shows his agility not only as a virtuosic English concertina player, but on guitar, harmonium and pocket piano. Both musicians take turns playing the atmospheric old upright piano at Red Kite studio in rural Wales where they recorded the album. Field recordings capture urban sounds near Emily's Liverpool home and overlay contemporary landscapes onto old pastoral songs. These are not romantic songs of a chocolate box England: these are the vibrant, messy tales of a relatably flawed set of characters, whose voices ring clearly through the ages. Time Was Away is a masterclass in understatement.English folk comes no more enchanted than Emily Portman 's delicately sung tales - The GuardianRob Harbron is a musical hound, showing an endless energy and a fine nose for a melody - Songlines