Edinburgh singer/songwriter Duncan made her name as a classically trained doublebassist, but decided to take a left turn into the folk world and share her delicate, teary-eyed and intimately whistful tunes with us, and the results suggest she may have an exciting career ahead should she choose to continue in this vein (and early indications are that she will, as she is currently home in Scotland working on her sophomore effort). Like other contemporary folkies, Marissa Nadler, Charlotte Greig and Sharron Kraus, Duncan possesses an angelic, soaring soprano and her debut offers heartwarming originals in the style of Carly Simon and Joni Mitchell. The sparse backing (acoustic guitar on ?Wonderful Friend,? a lilting, lonely piano on ?You See (Right In)?) accompanies her double-tracked voice througout many tracks. The so-quiet-you-can-hear-a-pindrop performance on the latter opens with some mumbled chanting, as if Duncan was conversing with herself or meditating out loud, over her gently plucked guitar, and you can almost feel her pain draining out of her heart and soul.

?Stars? brings a band into the studio with Duncan and, thankfully, they?re sedate and unobtrusive enough not to distract from the intimate tale of woe. The song?s coda features a whistling synth flourish that actually compliments the mournful tone. This is beautiful, warm, sorrowful music for broken-hearted lovers in the throes of late-night (self)pity parties. Light the candles and incense and don?t forget to pack a couple of extra boxes of tissues. 8/10 -- Jeff Penczak (27 December, 2006)