Liverpool Sound and Vision Rating 8.5/10

Push the boundaries enough and what you find underneath is a true calling, a mystery unravelled and the pursuit of elegance; all of which combine to bring together the founding stones of serenity and insight, of the harbouring and unleashing of secrets.

In a world that has had to find another avenue of existing other than the rush and manic expression that has dogged humanity since the lurch to praising profit rather than the artistic achievement of the collective and the individual, it is telling that the dichotomy that is evident in Folk, both the outright anger and the calmness of expression, makes itself perfectly clear in the new album by James Patterson and John Dipper, the sensational Unearthing.

The pairing, which has been working toward this moment for a decade, have arguably found the experience fortuitous, and complete, the meaning of their own expressive playing combining superbly with the other, and the evidence is put to the listener as one exhibits insurmountable proof in front of a grand jury. Through tracks such as Rere’s Hill, the haunting lament of If It’s Ever Spring Again, the poignant and reflective In The Time Of The Breaking Of Nations, the on the edge of brutality of The Murdered Servant Man, the fear of loss in He Fades Away and the memory that rears its truth in Lads In Their Hundreds, the listener must be mindful of their own responsibility to the truth, to forget the persuasion but instead to seek out the genuine and the legitimate.

For in Unearthing this treasure box of music, the listener is left breathless but also feeling incredibly informed and sated at the sublime depth the pair dig deep down to. Unrestricted access to two of the finest musicians on the Folk scene today is not to be dismissed, after all it takes candour and fidelity to the craft to team up with another human being, no matter how talented, and produce something magical.

Sophisticated and stunning, Patterson and Dipper are uniquely qualified to catch the audience’s attention, and by Unearthing and baring their souls in this joint venture, they complement the time and the precious sound with beauty and ease. 

Ian D. Hall