Steph Geremia: If Tomorrow – A grower of an album that has a long life baked into its DNA

Steph Geremia is a flute player whose winding travels and diverse collaborations (not least with Alan Kelly and Eddi Reader) have led her to this most natural of places: her third solo album but her first to feature her own singing front and centre.

If Tomorrow, produced by renowned Scottish fiddle player John McCusker, is a collection that runs deep, with Geremia choosing a rich mix of songs suited to her warm voice. As a flute player whose sinuous playing style became a distinctive calling card, Geremia’s late arrival as a lead vocalist reveals an equally fluid singing style.

Eddi Reader lends backing vocals to more than half of the 11 tracks in the collection, and Geremia’s welcoming gabháil wraps itself around a raft of fine contributions from Kelly, Kris Drever, Phil Cunningham, Donald Shaw and many others. McCusker’s thumbprint is evident in the warmth of the production and the multilayered arrangements. Geremia contributes a sole song of her own but takes impressive possession of Bob Dylan’s Tomorrow Is a Long Time and Dougie MacLean’s Garden Valley.

This is a slow grower of an album that has a long life baked into its DNA. At times the richness of the pickings can be a touch overpowering, but Geremia’s vocals ably carry the day.