HERE’S a story that somehow failed to make the pages of this newspaper.

There once was a posh young lady of York who went courting in the woods, leant herself up against a thorn, fell pregnant with twins and then promptly murdered her poor offspring.

But never mind: the despatched twins had their revenge with a spot of haunting.

Such is the murder ballad of Greenwood Side, the traditional song that closes this album in stirring style.

On these 11 songs, Bellowhead have moved on slightly from the almost demented momentum of Broadside, their top-selling previous album.

The energy is still sparking, with the 11-strong band playing together with unstoppable gusto, from the first notes of opener Let Her Run to the last chords of that murderous tale.

Fine Sally, an updated broadside ballad, features another lively young lady – as, too, does Gosport Nancy, almost an echo of a song from the last album, New York Girls.

Rosemary Lane makes glorious play with a tune drawn from Scarborough Fair, while the English folk song Seeds Of Love sounds lush and operatic, and Moon Kittens starts off almost like a James Bond song, all dramatic big-band swagger and caressing strings.

Perhaps not everyone will enjoy Bellowhead’s take on Richard Thompson’s I Want To See The Bright Lights Tonight. Yet while this version lacks the hazy wistfulness of the original, it swings into life to become a natural choice.

There are signs here that Bellowhead have matured a little, but not so much as to spoil the party.

For the 11 members of this collective make the most lovely and lively music around.