I approached last night’s gig with a mixture of trepidation and excitement: trepidation for as one of the immuno-compromised it was my first public gig post-pandemic, and excitement as Oxford was buzzing with students returning for the start of term and music lovers celebrating the return of an in-person Folk Weekend Oxford.

It was reassuring if unsurprising to find the Holywell Music Rooms unchanged and to bump into friends in the audience for a quick catch-up before the night’s musical entertainment, just as if nothing had changed over the last two years.

However, the world in general and myself in particular are in such turmoil that it was hard to know how to define my expectations for Oxford Folk Weekend. With roots in the bardic traditions and the foot stomping and bell ringing of centuries of Morris dancing underpinning its connection to the land and community, folk music seemed like a good place to restart my adventures in the musical bounty on offer in Oxford. With the added twist of an insight into the antipodean folk music tradition in the shape of Charm of Finches.

So, it was fitting that the concert opened with special guest support, Sophronie’s, wistful, remorseful, melancholic tune Where will we go? This set the tone for the evening and although I have no idea personally or politically where we are all going I do know that last night’s chords, harmonies and lyricism did transport me to an ethereal world of resonant tones interlaced with heart-rending lyrics and the occasional Aussie aside. Folk art forms are the musical basis of so much of our modern audio-visual sophistication and it was most enjoyable to hear live the stripped back simplicity of guitar and violin and the occasionally necessary tambourine. I particularly enjoyed the pizzicato violin contrasting with roiling guitar chords used by both Sophronie and Charm of Finches.

It was a shame that the black-out curtains were drawn in the music rooms as I am sure the evening sunshine would have made better back-drop than the meagre lighting rig used, but as sisters Ivey and Mabel (who make up Charm of Finches) noted with their fresh Aussie eyes at the start of their first session - the Holywell Music Rooms are an amazing venue in a spectacular city. It was great to see an almost-capacity audience enjoying the music but the venue encourages straight-laced attention in the audience which at times I think the performers found a little different and disconcerting - and I was surprised there was not more of the foot stomping applause that used to be so popular at Sunday morning baroque coffee concerts. I fear we have all become a little more introspective recently - but it was a fitting venue for Charm of Finches unique brand of chamber folk.

Beyond their sibling relationship there is a clear shared musical aesthetic at work, which was apparent in their ballad, Miranda - a tune exploring themes of jealousy, love and loss and the deep dark urges buried deep inside all of us. Their harmonies are confident, complex and complete achieving an overall aching, ethereal, lyrical quality - less twisted and sharp than The Unthanks, their English equivalent, and always retaining a wistful, melancholy feel in spite of addressing themes of passion and violence. Yet their songs retain a fresh, shining quality with a healthy note of individual quirkiness in tune with their general aesthetic: for last night’s performance Ivey and Mabel wore re-purposed and re-dyed wedding dresses from Aussie Opp Shops (if they like Opp shopping back home in Melbourne the charity shops of Oxford are going to blow their minds!).

All of these qualities and the fundamental honesty of the music of the Charm of Finches are most evident in the track Treading Water: a song full of loss and yearning, wrapped in complex atmospheric harmonies. But don’t take my word for it - the band continue on tour in the UK and many of the lush songs heard tonight can be found on their new album Wonderful Oblivion. If tonight’s gig is anything to go by I am going to enjoy the entertainment on offer in the “new normal” post pandemic Oxford and when, inevitably, problems personal and projected become too much I will follow Ivey and Mabel’s advice and Concentrate on Breathing.