Good Habits, Richard Trethewey and the Rheingans Sisters – three recent releases to help us recharge our batteries, harvest our plums and synchronise our swimming

I’ve been following closely the musical trajectory of Pete and Bonnie, aka Good Habits, since their first album in 2020. Since then, I’ve enjoyed watching them play live several times (at Shrewsbury Folk Festival and Purbeck Valley Folk Festival) and, this year, I witnessed the blending together of Good Habits with international duo The Trouble Notes to form a new quartet calling themselves Just Like Clay. 

Good Habits continues to operate as an entity in its own right and Quarter-Life is their third album, (released with support from the brilliant Help Musicians UK and the Alan Surtees Trust.) The album features five collaborations with other artists. There’s a breathtaking cover of The Who’s Baba O’Riley (featuring Lunatraktors) but, for me, my favourite track is Sunday, a Bonnie composition that fuses Bonnie’s voice and cello perfectly with the banjo and voice of Kate Griffin (of Mishra fame.) This languorous gem of a song reminds us of the importance of recharging our batteries. 

Among the Celtic traditions, the folk music of Cornwall is a little under-represented compared with Irish and Scottish folk. One distinctive Cornish voice is Richard Trethewey who, earlier this year, released a beautiful album called Two Halves, (the title coming from the idea that it would be released on vinyl with a ‘side one’ and a ‘side two,’ each with slightly different moods.) 

The musicianship and instrumentation on Two Halves is phenomenal. Richard (a graduate of Newcastle’s folk music degree course) sings and plays fiddles and a cittern on this, his second solo release, but the musical landscape is further enriched by beautiful playing by guest musicians on cello, oboe, harp and flute ...and there’s even a brass band. The stand-out track for me is Bringing the Harvest Home – an unlikely homage to the harvesting of plums along the banks of the River Fal. It’s a lovely blend of melancholy and celebration. 

Anna and Rowan Rheingans – The Rheingans Sisters – have produced a startlingly experimental new album. Start Close In challenges the listener with its extended drones and irregular electronic beats. It took me a few play-throughs before I could really enjoy the immersive, layered playfulness of this record but now it’s becoming a bit of a favourite. 

Many of the tracks are tricksy and full of surprises. Un Voltigeur, sung in French with a banjo accompaniment, begins by recalling those other musical sisters the McGarrigles but, when saxophonist Daniel Thorne joins in, there are shades of Jan Garbarek and then a subtle electric guitar makes an unexpected appearance. Over and Over Again is minimalist and mesmerising, with its repetitive fiddle and Justin Adams-style electric guitar while its lyrics literally repeat “Over and over again.” 

The meaning of Rowan’s song Drink Up, is ambiguous, ambivalent: “Scroll down/Everyone’s craving time/Everyone’s holding their place on the line/Everyone’s job is a compromise/Swim, everyone synchronise/Strike, everything stops and starts...” It seems to sum up an effort to find joy in the mess we’re in, which isn't a bad idea at all.