Reviewed by Paul Keeble

Clutching At Straws are the folk team Staffordshire with an ever-growing reputation and while we await their 'This Table Changes Everything' EP this might be an opportune moment to point you towards this charity recording they released last year. All proceeds go to a community in the Philippines to help build a. . . bamboo bridge! (More on the band website.) This EP features four songs, of which the standout is the 8.5 minute title track. Unusual for a song that length not to be on a prog rock album, but it works with an arrangement of guitar, cello and bongos with tight harmonies that rise and fall and maintain interest (for those old enough to remember, it is reminiscent of the Water Into Wine Band). The opening lyrics, repeated with growing intensity, are a picture of Paul's theme of strength in weakness: "They say there's strength in weakness/They say there's truth in the bamboo/When I am weak then I am strong/Oh bamboo bridge." Piano-led 'The One In Front' is a slower song with a nice cello solo while tracks three and four go together - "Yolanda: The Storm" an instrumental with thunder and other sound effects; then "Yolanda: A Response" which is a refrain sung over and over which gradually build up with multi-harmonies.

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