O True Believers

When UK native James Blackshaw plays his 12-string, something spiritual takes place - the unassuming 23-year-old is transformed into a guitar god whose name belongs alongside the likes of Jack Rose, Steffen Basho-Junghans and Glenn Jones. Time after time, Blackshaw hits out of the park, consistently breaking boundaries in what could be conceived as a somewhat limited medium. O True Believers is the latest in a string of impressive releases, all with their own mood and inspiration. Consisting of mainly solo 12-string acoustic guitar played in a finger-picked style not dissimilar to Robbie Basho, Blackshaw has devised new tunings and new techniques, both of which are in full display here. The album is occasionally embellished with other instruments, such as the Hindustani tamboura and a specially tuned psaltery of Eastern-European origin called a cymbala. This is James Blackshaw at his most vulnerable and sincere, and with that comes two rare and wonderful qualities: truth and freedom.