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Inge Thomson comes from Fair Isle in Shetland and is a great box player and singer soaked (nay drenched) in the tradition of the islands and further afield. I know her from her gigs guesting on other peoples' albums and from her work with Karine Polwart, and . The last two bands, of course, were fairly left of the trad field and should have prepared me a little for what was to come.

Forget boundaries and envelopes, her new CD 'Shipwrecks & Static' pushes all the walls over and leaves Humpty Dumpty with nowhere to sit. Samples and loops run alongside Armenian choirs, mandolin and piano accordion. Ìý

Do I like it? Very much.

I've listened to it several times throughÌý and enjoyed it more each time. Folk?Ìý I'm not sure. New Age? Definitely not. meets ambient meets meets perhaps ­ but really I haven't a clue ­ I just like it ­ a lot.

If you get a chance listen to 'Girl With The Swan's Head', 'Scoundrel Clouds' and 'John' and give the music time. I'm listening again as I type this 6 a.m. in the Yorkshire Dales and I sense that I'm listening to something very truthful and very important and more than a little beautiful.