PUSHING 80 she may be, but Peggy Seeger remains a singer-songwriter of force, subtlety and charm. These are, by Peggy’s own reckoning, dark songs – “not black but deep chocolate with burgundy wine”.

Her voice still sounds pure, sometimes playful, as on her cover of Do You Believe In Me?, an off-the-wall sort of atheist anthem by Peter and Lou Berryman; and sometimes maturely regretful, as on the powerful title song, which Seeger wrote in memory of her mother, who died of cancer in 1953. Other than that, she tackles the usual subjects of life, love and death, sometimes sounding like the folk siren she is, as the sister of Pete Seeger; and sometimes sounding almost jazzy.

Pete died earlier this year and Peggy has struggled with health problems, yet the mood of this album is far from gloomy. There are pools of poignancy here, but resurgence swims just beneath the surface. The lovely opener, Swim To The Star, further keeps things in the family, being co-written with her son, Calum MacColl, who also produces the album.