ALL hail the West Yorkshire folk heroines. Heidi Tidow performs and records with her wife, singer-songwriter and pianist Belinda O'Hooley.

Both born and raised in the Colne Valley, their Yorkshire identity is stamped proudly, but has a far wider appeal. This is a beautifully made record with a distinctive Steinway grand piano-led sound.

It's clear why the broadsheets are getting in an August froth about this record, with strong songs, topical subjects including English identity and child abuse. No shock then that this is mostly serious with Reapers as its dramatic centrepiece. It also includes the Billy Bragg commissioned The Pixie, a song about the First World War.

There are occasional shafts of sunlight through the glowering Pennine skies; including the Kathryn Williams song Small, Big Love and the near-jaunty Beryl about Morley cyclist Beryl Burton, who overcame much to beat all comers in the 1960s.

While the much vaunted harmonies lack the distinctiveness of some of their forebears, like Maddy Prior and June Tabor’s Silly Sisters, and the Joni Mitchell song River pales for losing its ethereal qualities, Shadows is undeniably a record made for the spotlight.