Hazel & Emily Askew
Emily and Hazel Askew have become known as two of the foremost performers
and interpreters of traditional music from England.
Their live performances brim with the depth and connection not only of two sisters, but also of two musicians who have been immersed in folk music all their lives.
Together, they rework and reinterpret songs and balladry, creating breath-taking arrangements, which allow words that are hundreds of years old to resonate profoundly with contemporary audiences.
Alongside this, both women are also skilled multi-instrumentalists and expert players of dance music, using fiddles, melodeons, concertina and cello in their innate drive to bring old dance music to life.
In 2019, the duo returned to the studio with a fresh vision. After months deep in rehearsal, reconstructing and re-exploring their sound, unearthing old songs, as well as composing and creating new music, their fourth album ‘Enclsoure’ emerged, which was released to widespread critical acclaim.
‘Gifted multi-instrumentalists, singers and writers’
Mark Radcliffe, BBC Radio 2
‘Beautiful, uncanny and subtly political songs’
The Guardian
‘This mixture of the homegrown and the exotic, the old and the
new, is revealing. It helps to explain just why the Askew Sisters are one
of the most refreshing and exciting acts in folk music, and why Enclosure
is set to be one of the albums of the year’
Folk Radio UK
"Expansive, pristine and strikingly modern, whilst remaining true
to the tradition"
EDS
‘A powerful new album’
The Independent
**** ‘The Askew Sisters have released some of the most striking
folk music of recent years”
Songlines
"Enclosure is an album that very few other musicians could have
made, partly because it transcends considerations like ‘traditional’
and ‘contemporary’ without losing sight of the important issues
it highlights. It is full of apparent contradictions that resolve into fully
realised ideas: it always feels intimate and yet its themes are universal,
it is steeped in the history of place and society and yet it constantly
looks to the future, and it is an album about captivity that revels in its
own musical freedom."
Folk Radio UK