Over the course of 12 years and five studio albums Ninebarrow have earned themselves a quality reputation for their engaging and empathetic songwriting, their imaginative reworkings of traditional songs, their deft musicianship and, most of all, their exquisite vocal harmonies.
 
Now those harmonies have been fused with more than 40 other voices from Hampshire’s Hart Voices (based in Fleet) and Surrey’s Chantry Singers (from Guildford) to create new album The Hour of the Blackbird which sees 13 of Ninebarrow’s finest back catalogue songs renewed and enhanced by the soaring vocals of sopranos, altos, tenors and basses under the energetic musical directorship of Roy Rashbrook, himself a member of the choir of St. Paul’s Cathedral.
 
Two years on from their critically acclaimed album The Colour of Night (‘one of the most beautiful folk albums you will hear - outstanding’ - Daily Express) it will be released this autumn (Friday, October 3) showcasing numbers first heard in that release and earlier albums Where the Blackthorn Burns (2014), Releasing the Leaves (2015), The Waters & The Wild (2019) and A Pocket Full of Acorns (2020).
 
“Really lovely – like two halves of one voice”-- Mark Radcliffe, BBC Radio 2/6
 
“Whitley and LaBouchardiere’s harmonies are sweet and joined at the hip and the choirs contribute plenty of light and shade.” – Songlines Magazine
 
“I haven’t described many albums as a masterpiece but this one is as close as I think you’ll get” – FATEA Magazine
 
“A reimagining of their work with the innovation of a combined choir of some 40 voices. The Hour of the Blackbird is a gentle album – no angst, no polemics, no hectoring. If you need to chill, Ninebarrow have the prescription ready.” – Irish Music Magazine
 
“Ninebarrow have selected songs from five albums’ worth of back catalogue and given them a very classy coat of paint’ – RnR Magazine ★★★★
 
“Ninebarrow gain huge critical acclaim for everything they do- this is stunning, an absolutely beautiful album” – Tim Walker, BBC Radio Lincolnshire
 
“A really beautiful album – the harmonies are amazing” – Drive 105, Derry
 
“I can’t put this album down – it is so beautiful” – Genevieve Tudor, Genevieve Plays Folk
 
“This is easily the best album I’ve heard this year – a stunning piece of work and the choirs add something very special.” –
Folk Friday Radio ‘Cornucopia of Folk’
 
“The Hour of the Blackbird proves first rate at blending English roots and choral settings. All told, it’s rather remarkable” – Spiral Earth ★★★★
 
“The choirs add a completely new dimension to the material--it makes for a fresh, fascinating and delicious listening experience” –
Essex Folk News
 
“Quite how they will top this album is for another day – for now we can enjoy these songs in all their choral glory.” – Get Ready To Rock ★★★★