Isobel Campbell is set to release her second album of 2006 next week, and it's a shame that it doesn't seem destined for the same success as Ballad of the Broken Seas. Reviews in the UK have been mixed at best--focusing either on its supposed inferiority in the face of Ballad, or Campbell's apparent attempt to cash in on the whole freak-folk movement (I'm not buying that for a minute.) The fact is, Campbell set out with a simple plan: to record an album of originals and covers as a tribute to the British folk tradition, and she did a pretty great job. "Cachel Wood" is easily the album's highlight, with its nursery rhyme cadence and effective use of the harmonica. Anyone hating on this song is in serious need of a good, long tête--tÃê te with their inner-child.

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