josephine foster & the victor herrero band: perlas

Following their album of Spanish folk songs Anda Jaleo (Fire 2010), Josephine Foster and the Victor Herrero Band have created a superb follow-up entitled Perlas (Pearls). It is a jewel of a collection, with songs and poems selected by Josephine herself, gathered from dusty old scores and brought vividly to the present with warm performances full of flesh-and-blood emotion. Made with a variety of stringed instruments and simple percussion, the songs were re-corded live in the studio on to analogue tape by Paco Loco in Puerto de Santa Maria, Spain. Foster breathes new life into timeless traditional melodies, drawing from the Spanish-folk traditions of Castile, the Basque, Santander and the Costa Brava. Elemental themes of love bind the collection together, with a melancholy joy that casts a shadow of desire and loss.