In the midst of the turmoil and uncertainty of these peculiar times, this week sees the arrival of a soothing new album from a five-piece group featuring some of the best female voices and songwriters in UK blues, folk and roots.

Daphne’s Flight last week unveiled ’On Arrival’, their third album and second within three years.

Featuring the smooth and classy blues-gospel voice of the island’s own Christine Collister, alongside the combined harmonious talents of singers Helen Watson, Julie Matthews, Chris While and Melanie Harrold, Daphne’s Flight are a mix of many different styles, sounds, themes and emotions, and their three albums, including 1996’s self-titled debut, have all been received with widespread adulation and acclaim.

Songs such as ’Turn the Microphone Off’, ’Hard to be the Way’, ’Saturday With Mr Rameer’ and ’You’ll Never Go Away’, showcase the group’s ability to combine diverse Indian, Americana, folk and jazz influences.

Christine herself chimes in with two typically rich and soulful songs, ’You Got Me Going’ and ’So Brave’, which both demonstrate why she has become one of the most revered and respected singers in the British folk and blues scene.

What makes this album so exciting for the group is that they feel like they are writing as a group rather as five friends blending their different sounds together, something that Christine said was very apparent during the song writing and recording of ’On Arrival’.

’What is key to this album is that we all wrote the songs with an idea of Daphne’s Flight very much in mind, even though we may not have realised it at the time,’ said Christine.

’We said that all our ideas and songs have become "Daphne-fied".

’We have a 25-year span from when the first album came out to now, and we are thoroughly enjoying being together, writing and playing with each other.’

Christine refers to this period as ’the second phase of Daphne’s Flight’, which began with 2017’s ’Know Time, Knows Change’ and saw the group tour for the first time in 25 years together.

’This is the most recent album from our most recent connection, and I think that even though we are all very close friends and enjoy working with each other, we have all been thrilled at this very fruitful and magical connection,’ said Christine.

’It has produced a real sense of creativity that we didn’t really expect in what we call our second phase.

’There has always been a genuine thrill for us when we sing and perform together.

’But this time around we have more of an understanding in song arranging.

’We are now more comfortable with each other’s song-writing and we have a better idea of what we can all bring.

’We also had a wonderful time and a lot of fun recording this album too.

’We work as a team. In Daphne’s Flight there are five really strong singers and songwriters. Also, we all love harmony, and singing in harmony is what makes this a special band to play in.

’The trick to writing and singing good harmonies is to be able to listen and not just sing over each other. You can’t have the one voice dominating everything.’

Christine said they were all very disappointed about the cancellation of the proposed tour to support the album, which has had to be put off until next year.

But the group were able to find new ways to share their new music, including recording live versions of their songs, sung at home and edited together, something which Christine said has worked remarkably well for them.

’We videoed ourselves singing from our own little corners in the British Isles,’ she said.

’Chris While decided to learn how to edit videos and I think she has done a terrific job. Times like these force you to adapt and learn new skills and she has managed to fill in the space where we would have been out on tour and really get our music out and noticed. Through the videos, she has generated proper interest and managed to attract people to us.’

Christine hopes to include a Manx date for the rescheduled tour next year, as the Isle of Man holds a special place in the history of Daphne’s Flight, after their ground-breaking debut album was recorded in Kirk Michael by the late sound engineer Anglin Buttimore.

’We all have fond connections with the island,’ she said.

’It was great to be able to start off our 2017 tour here, at the Peel Centenary Centre.

’We thought that gig sounded great, but by the time we’d finished the tour we were much more together as a group.

’The island is a very special place for all of us, and we all have history here.’

by Mike Wade

Twitter:@iomnewspapers