Formed around 18 months ago, Lau brings together the individually formidable talents of Highland fiddler Aidan O’Rourke (Blazin’ Fiddles), English accordionist Martin Green (Eliza Carthy Band) and Orcadian singer-guitarist Kris Drever, a recent Radio 2 Horizon award winner and all-round man of the moment. Their explosive live performances have been generating a major buzz around the UK folk circuit, and this brilliant debut release confirms their standing as one of the most exciting new acts to hit the scene in years.

The instrumental sets comprise almost entirely original material, enabling the trio to weave a dazzling panoply of influences into their sound, from Celtic to Balkan, Americana to jazz. Combined with astoundingly tight-knit and intricate arrangements, this makes for fiendishly clever music, yet it lacks the least hint of gimmickry or contrivance.

Quite the opposite, in fact: it’s the thrilling synergy and spontaneity of Lau’s sound that hits you first. Only then do you start to appreciate quite how much is going on at any given moment, in the tunes’ multiple layers of interlocking variations on melody and rhythm, running the gamut from juggernaut force to exquisite delicacy. The three songs sung by Drever – Ewan MacColl’s ‘Freeborn Man’ and two new settings of traditional ballads – display his characteristic expressive eloquence, richly complemented by bold yet sensitive accompaniment. Gentlemen they may be, but Lau are certainly no lightweights.