GUITARIST and singer-songwriter John Tams has become one of the quiet heroes of British folk music in a career spanning four decades.

His latest album, only his second as a solo artist, enhances his position as a leading figure in traditional and original music whose contribution to the political song idiom illuminates an evergreen and vibrant tradition.

Highlights include Another Grey And Grim Old Grimy Day, which is a clever improvisation on a marimba pattern; a simple, but effective, requiem for lost ideals called Yonder (Down The Winding Road); and the atmospheric final track, aptly named When This Song Is Ended There's No More.

Updated: 10:15 Thursday, October 31, 2002