Album review: CLAIRE HAMILL BAND – A House Among The Trees

May 20th, 2026 by jason

Bandcamp [Release date 25.04.26]

Claire Hamill, the grand dame of British folk, rock and prog, who you may well have never heard of releases her 12th solo album since 1971. There are not many female survivors from this period and certainly not many releasing fresh inspiring material such as can be found on this album.

Claire has a unique voice, one which was compared to Joni Mitchell back in the day. In my opinion, and I could be wrong but I would say she could well have been an influence on a young Kate Bush. You would think she is in her early twenties listening to her vocals on these tracks, it has a freshness and clarity which defies her maturity

On first listening, toward the end of the album I was thinking it had a sixties psychedelic folky feel to it a la David MacWilliams, and I still hold that thought on quite a few of the tracks, like Don’t Go Home Without Me and All We Have Is Now, and opening track The Beautiful which is not surprising considering her back ground. But it has so much more depth to it than that.

I must admit, that although I knew the name, I didn’t know a lot about the artist or her prolific output over the years. She released her first album One House Left Standing at the tender age of 17, in 1971. I imagine she was featured on Old Grey Whistle Test quite a few times. Then went on to release a slew of acclaimed albums including October, Stage Door Johnnies and Abracadabra, and toured with John Martyn, Jethro Tull, Procul Harum and King Crimson. She collaborated with Steve Howe, Jon and Vangelis and Wishbone Ash. Then after another solo album Touchpaper in 1984 she released Voices which pre-empted ambient music by featuring a lyricless or wordless vocal album. Exhausted yet? I feel like I’m running up a big hill. In the 2000’s she released five albums not including this one, but including The Lost And The Lovers and Troubadour in 2025. She was also lead vocalist on two albums with prog rock band Fragile.

My favourite track on this album is Snakeskin Lover, which has a rhumba style rhythm to it. The following track The Werewolf And the Maiden is classic folk prog with unconventional vocal melodies and an eastern European vibe in the rhythms. Claire’s voice is a little too far down in the mix for my liking and this continues through a few of the remaining tracks. A great little rocker follows with Intoxicating, with harmonica and honky-tonk style piano, courtesy of Mark Abrahams powering the track along. I don’t know if this a single but it should be.

Some beautiful soaring vocals dominate Up To The Moon. Claire has gathered some great musicians around her. I don’t know if they are her regular band, or just for this album but they are: Sean Elliot, electric and acoustic guitars, John Nicholls bass and Sonny Flint, drums percussion bass, keyboards, harmonica, acoustic and electric guitars, and he also co wrote two songs, the rest being Claire Hamill compositions. The band create an understated , but very complementary foil for Hamills vocals , creating a smorgasbord of musical concoctions taking in 60’s 70’s jazz, folk and prog

12 tracks in all. If you already a fan buy it immediately you wont be disappointed, if you are new to her but wondering what is the connection between Joni Mitchell and Kate Bush, check this out, you might find the answer to your question. Me, I’m going to check her back catalogue, I’m a bit ashamed that I haven’t done before. ****

Review by Andy Sharrocks

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