I'm not sure how much Kate Tempest (the Artistic Director of this year's Brighton Festival) had to do with booking this but I'm confident she would have enjoyed the storytelling behind the music of this foursome. Similar but in stark contrast to the modern and urban stories that Tempest tells. While Tempest concentrates on the angst, anxieties and sometimes quiet desperation of ordinary folk, The Furrow Collective dig deep into ancient folk song in singing largely about the quirky, if often dark side of human nature, albeit tempered somewat by snatches of comedy and surreal humour.

Made up of (a pregnant) Emily Portman, Rachel Newton, Lucy Farrell, and Alasdair Roberts – all established artists in their own right – and playing an array of exotic and not-so-exotic instrumentation (electric and acoustic guitars, banjo, saw, harp, concertina, fiddle), The Furrow Collective explore the gentler, albeit still noirish in tone and content, side of folk and americana, with a set list made up almost exclusively of traditional songs. But instead of attempting to mimic the traditional folk sound of yesteryear, The Furrow Collective bring a modern sensibility to proceedings, in effect re-imagining these songs for the 21st century, beginning with 'Many's The Night's Rest'. Sung by the group, and, so we're informed, culled from a Sussex resident, the group thereafter take turns to sing individually, in pairs, or as a full band, performing mainly songs taken from last year's Wild Hog album, released on the fledgling Hudson Records label.

Highlights included the sparse gaelic song 'Chuir M'Athair Mise dhan Taigh Charraideach', sung by Newton, who also gently foot stomped to add a kind of foreboding to the simple chord structures of Roberts' electric guitar; the ancient myth-making of 'Polly Vaughan', which features some typically macabre and tragic lyrics – a case of mistaken identity, a woman accidentally killed by her husband; the extraordinary comedic balladry of 'Queen Eleanor's Confession'; and 'Unquiet Grave', a song learned from Shirley Collins (who apeared the night before at the Dome) and featuring Lucy Farell on the musical saw, for a suitably errie sound

The rather brief show ends with the band being joined by the American duo Anna & Elizabeth (who are also on the bill) for a rendition of 'Wild Hog in the Woods', an American version of a traditional British ballad.

Sparse, contemplative, and unfussy, The Furrow Collective plough a distinctly downbeat path, their vocals and playing both lamentful and subtly powerful. Yes, death and tragedy are a big part of what they do, but there is also a light hearted playfulness to break up the gloom. Indeed, magic realism could best describe this band, painting pictures of times that no one really knows much about, folk stories being one of the only possible truths about a past we can only imagine.
Jeff Hemmings

Website: thefurrowcollective.co.uk
Facebook: facebook.com/thefurrowcollective
Twitter: twitter.com/TheFurrowC