Hannah Rarity, Queen's Hall

 Critics have been giving Rarity's second album, To Have You Near, very positive, and at times effusive, reviews, and this official launch gig showed why and confirmed that she sounds even better live than recorded.  For the first half she was joined on stage by Scott Mackay on drums, Euan Burton playing both upright and electric bass, the wonderful Anna Massie on guitar, and Rarity's long time co-conspirator John Lowrie at the piano.  This set only briefly touched the new material, instead delivering songs from her earlier work, and some fine covers.  Including a gorgeous version of Joni Mitchell's A Case of You, always a good test of range and ability to hit sustained high notes.  Lowrie's sparse accompaniments and jazzy solos a perfect foil to the clarity and purity of Rarity's vocals.

The second half focussed on the new songs, and a string quartet joined the band on stage, to reproduce the lushness of the studio versions.  Led by Seonaid Aitken, who did many of the song arrangements, it featured Kirsty Orton on second violin, Patsy Reid on viola, and the ever smiling Alice Allen on cello.  The album features a mix of Rarity's own compositions, traditional material, and covers from songwriters as diverse as Tom Waits and Boo Hewerdine.  A lot of thought has gone into the arrangements, and into highlighting Rarity's ability to phrase and shape lyrics into her own style.  With one haunting solo from the singer accompanying herself on tenor guitar.  

Hannah is an engaging speaker, self deprecating and highlighting her own mistakes (she jumped the set list at one point), but always amusing and interesting.  She said when her dad first heard the new CD his first comment was "not a happy album then".  And it's true that many of the themes, inevitably inspired by lockdowns and the pandemic, have an underlying sadness.  There are no upbeat tracks, yet the tone is one of hope, of survival, of getting through things.  None more so than the closing number, her version of Davy Steele's Scotland Yet.  Rarity was happy to declare her support for Scottish Independence , a Scotland fee of "the ninnies doon the road" as she put it, and it seemed that most of the audience enthusiastically agreed with her.  It's a song of possibility, of what could and should be the future, and is in tune with the optimism that she brings to even the saddest lyrics.

Highly recommended.