So this is what happens when two talented musicians miss their flights. They don?t whine about it, or start looking for the nearest cup of coffee while lousily hanging around the airport?s coffee bar all day. Nope, instead, they ditch that plan altogether and hide themselves in a spirited place to record an album of brooding, gothic folk music. In one week.

It happened to Tara Burke of F?rsaxa and British folkie Sharron Kraus and the result, the cynically titled ?Travellers Two? is something to be proud of. On their own these artists might inhabit slightly different niches in the folk genre, when combined they stir up a ancient sounding mel?e of flutes, guitar, violins and gothic chants. And it all sounds like it has been here for ages. Especially tracks like "Henbane" and "Mermaids Call," where the chanting is the main ingredient, feel as if they were recorded in a medieval castle a couple of centuries ago. Defnately no planes to be missed around that time.

At other times the duo like to keep it simple, just a guitar and some chords but always played with a certain delicacy, "Evenings Two" for example is 3 minutes of calm guitar, an interlude more or less but never just filler. The small orchestra of bells that shapes "Stoikitie" on the other hand is essentially so simple, it eclipses the filler categorization, but very slightly.

The beautifully arranged "Barrowlands" impresses a lot more. Just as simple, a sweet melange of flutes and bells but with much more body to it, whereas the former tracks were basically shallow waters, "Barrowlands" offers something to drown in.

Relatively simple structures get laced with the finest of threads, these are tracks you feel comfortable immersing yourself in. It never really knocks you off your feet but subtly sways it?s way through. 7/10 -- Joris Heemskerk (4 March, 2008)