A Hand Full of Hurricanes...

Plangent is a word I didn't expect to use in a review, or indeed elsewhere, any time soon but this album delivers as good a working definition of it as any dictionary could provide.

• Loud and resounding.
• Expressing, or suggesting, sadness; plaintive.

The two meanings may seem contradictory but, at least on this recording, they are not; the ambiguity of the lyric does however often make up for this.

"Terror is a great way to enforce your rules and we've lost control"

This is possibly as directly threatening as the lyrics get but the inspirations and implications clearly run far deeper and darker than that. It is also remarkable for the cunning use of her own vocals and instruments, used on a loop pedal (on Tiny Flower for example), combined with real, but almost always electric, guitar and vocals.

• 'A Hand Full of Hurricanes', the full début album by Rose Kemp, is released by One Little Indian on 5th February 2007.

In late 2006 it was preceded by a single, Violence, taken from the album and c/w non-album track Fire In The Garden, which was only available on 7" format (500 copies, all pressed on red vinyl).

While the music is quite different, when it comes to performance it may come as no particular surprise to learn that Rose Kemp is the daughter of Maddy Prior and Rik Kemp both of whom were members of the legendary Steeleye Span.