IT’S been a good 12 months to be Bella Hardy. Named BBC Radio 2’s folk singer of the year in 2014 and part of the acclaimed Elizabethan Session project, you’d think she was on top of the world. So why does opening track The Only Thing To Do ask: “Should I hide a broken heart or let the world tear me apart?”

Simply because this album was written on the road and charts the good, bad, happy and sad times of constant touring. It’s a break from previous albums, where Hardy adapted and explored traditional ballads to tell her contemporary folk tales. With The Dawn is a self-penned account of 12 good months, but with the tinsel removed.

As a result she has produced a more intimate body of work that questions everything she’s seen and done up to now. Then there is that soaring Lark of a voice, which is accompanied by a fine set of guest musicians. All in all this is Hardy’s most accomplished album to date.