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Actually, Where Dark Horses Roam isn’t strictly country - there are heaped tablespoons of folk and blues mixed in there too - but its touching sound and shoestring production mean that it’s not until several listens in that you actually feel capable of getting some perspective on the songwriting.

Emma Black - Where Dark Horses Roam

When you do, what you find is a surprising selection of songs that dwells somewhere in-between Beth Orton, The Be Good Tanyas and Gillian Welch.

Black is best when she is wallowing in the darker side of life, like on the brooding Fly, a remarkable duet with Gabriel Minnikin that plumbs the depths to find the beauty, and the flickering candlelight of 6 O’Clock.

That said, the trawl through loss and longing does occasionally drop from introspective insight to maudlin moroseness, and there are times when her voice begins to grate. Thankfully, her self-awareness and experience mean such times are usually diluted by the beauty around them, and only the draining Leaving truly becomes an aural millstone.

This is a solid album, built on thoughtful songwriting and heart-felt lyrics, and while it may not be completely successful, Black’s original approach, unusual influences and self-belief deserves a wider audience. Put aside your alt-country for a moment and breathe in a new world of Manc-country.