Seth bomb

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THE folkin' hot Seth Lakeman is not only the posterboy of folk music - probably by default by being the only person in the folk music scene without a bushy beard, a tankard of Goblins Twaddle and jingly little bells on his shoes - but he is also a damn fine songwriter too.

Okay, I concede Eliza Carthy doesn't have a bushy beard, but she can down a pint of Twaddle with the best of them, so I've heard.

Poor Man's Heaven, Lakeman's fourth solo LP, is more of the same rhythmic folk demonstrated on debut The Punch Bowl, the Mercury-nominated Kitty Jay and the top-40 charting Freedom Fields.

Here Seth's sound is punchier, slightly rockier than before, and throughout the album more consistent than Freedom Fields, though it perhaps lacks the emotional peaks of its predecessor.

Nevertheless, if Poor Man's Heaven is this enjoyable, thank God I'm on a crap wage.