Half-English, half-French songstress and self-taught guitar player Fran Rodgers possesses a voice that is, to put it bluntly, staggering. Still in her twenties, she sings with a certain maturity, clarity and wisdom beyond her years; like Jeff Buckley, either of the younger Wainwrights, and even a hint of Antony Hegarty's spectral warble.

It is easy to compare Fran to her influences – her melancholic, finger picking guitar strum is certainly akin to Nick Drake – but it is a voice all of her own that stands head and shoulders above other folk singers, let alone your average pop singer.

All three tracks on this single have a slight hymnal quality. On 'I Fell To You Under Winter Sun' everything is backed up by haunting chamber music, while 'She Dwelt Th'Untrodden Ways' puts an organ into the mix.

3/5

Stephen Eddie

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