Tavistock folk duo Suthering have announced the release of their second album, produced by Sean Lakeman.

Leave A Light On is due for release on CD and digital download Friday, October 4 as an 11-track collection of songs which builds on the success of their 2022 debut album If We Turn Away. Leave a Light On features Lukas Drinkwater (double bass) and Olivia Dunn (fiddle) as guest musicians.

Julu Irvine and Heg Brignall, as Suthering, use vocal harmonies to provide messages of hope during hard times. They bring chemistry and humour to their live shows, championing female characters to create narratives for women and championing female heroines of folk. The pair are well-known in Tavistock for organising the town’s annual Pride event.

Leave a Light On is Suthering’s second studio album. Produced by Sean Lakeman, of Buckland Monachorum, (brother of local performer/writer Seth Lakeman), the album is a bold new direction in sound for the pair.

It is a poignant and powerful exploration of themes affecting social and political life. Leave A Light On is a collection of captivating stories, from personal experiences to inspiring tales and modern-day songs of protest and unity.

The duo’s first single (just released) ion the album Maggie is a powerful protest song, written in response to the reversal of the US abortion rights case Roe vs. Wade, which champions bodily autonomy for all.

The album emerges, bold and powerful, from a period of reflection for the duo, where their focus has been on writing.

Heg said: “These songs have a rawness and an honesty about them. There is vulnerability in the songwriting and it’s also an album full of strength and catharsis. Sean’s influence has helped push our sound in a new and exciting direction. We can’t wait to release it.”

Suthering’s live shows will take these compelling songs on tour this autumn on the following dates:

September 28 – Plymouth, Barbican Theatre; September 29 – Tavistock, The Wharf; October 3 – Leamington Spa, Temperance; October 5, Malvern, Colwall Alehouse; October 6 – Martock, Bower Hinton Chapel; October 6 – Bath, Chapel Arts; October 11 – Taunton, Brewhouse Studio; October 12 – Crediton, Crediton Arts Centre; October 13– Penzance, The Acorn; October 19 - Ross-on-Wye, Corn Exchange; November 6 – Norwich, Anteros Arts; November 7 – Milton Keynes, The Stables; November 8 – Weston-super-Mare, Front Room; November 9 – Awliscombe, Old Rectory Studio; November 13 – London, Cecil Sharp House; November 14 – Margate, Rosslyn Court; November 16 – Bristol, Folk House.

Find out more at www.suthering.com and www.facebook.com/suthering