Wrought Iron

Nancy Elizabeth

The Leaf Label

2009-10-05

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The Leaf Label have been responsible for some of this year’s most delicately beautiful releases, from Essie Jain’s The Inbetween to A Hawk and A Hacksaw’s Delivrance.  With such strong label mates, the expectancy is high for Lancashire lass Nancy Elizabeth’s second album Wrought Iron. Having come to public attention with 2007’s subtly elegant Battle and Victory, Nancy Elizabeth Cunliffe continues on the theory that less is more.

‘Wrought Iron is made by repeatedly heating and working the raw material with a hammer’ says Cunliffe of the reasoning behind her album title. Wrought Iron is a stunning collection of simply structured folk-infused lilts, self-reflective and a demonstration of growth through struggle. Written in solitude, the mood is movingly honest.

Nancy Elizabeth’s hard journey to make herself stronger has reaped numerous rewards.

Cunliffe has abandoned the harp, the instrument which shaped “Battle and Victory” in favour of the piano.  The decision is a wise one.  Welcoming piano solo “Cairns” emanates warmth, enticing you into the heart of the album. “Cairns” is not the only instrumental experimentation found on an album composed using guitar, glockenspiel, vibraphone and a hundred-year-old Dulcitone. “Cat Bells” is more playful than “Cairns” though provides an interlude as opposed to an invitation. Vocally Cunliffe is on form.  With a soft, wistful ease, she transports us through her deeper feelings.  “Canopy” and “Tow The Line” demonstrate the two extremes of Cunliffe’s vocal - from the angst ridden to the hopeful.

“Wrought Iron” doesn’t have any stand alone tracks, but as an album unit it works stunningly.  Cunliffe’s simplicity warms from the inside and the album’s honesty adds further appeal. Cunliffe is an artist worth watching and “Wrought Iron” warrants a place in everyone’s heart. The hard journey to make herself stronger has reaped numerous rewards.