Ragged Kingdom, Oysterband’s reunion collaboration, with the English folk legend June Tabor, was fROOTS Critics’ Poll Album of the Year, Mojo Folk Album of the Year, won three BBC Radio 2 Folk Awards and saw the group featured on Later… With Jools (BBC2 TV). After two years touring that project, Oysterband is now very happy to announce a new studio Oysterband album, DIAMONDS ON THE WATER, to be released on 17 February 2014 – their first new collection of original songs in seven years. “It was time”, says fiddler Ian Telfer, “to get back to some of the other things we do best – make new music and get out there on the road.” Singer John Jones took time from the studio to talk here about the new album: “After Ragged Kingdom, which was a kind of re-immersion in traditional song”, he says, “it seemed so important to us to get back to working on our song-writing skills in the light of that. We’ve loved every bit of the collaborative projects – which include the Big Session Festival too, of course – but the writing is a vital part of our growth and continuity as a band. And if we can give a little back to the folk tradition, so much the better”. These are the first Oysterband recordings since the departure of Ray “Chopper” Cooper to pursue a solo career. Al Scott, the band’s long-time producer, has stepped in on bass and mandolin, and, says John, “with the power and inventiveness of Dil [Davies]’s drumming, our sound has become simpler and punchier, as it was in the early days. Over a summer of great festivals, including Glastonbury, we stripped the sound down and went for it, with Al and Ian singing more to support guitarist Alan Prosser’s backing vocals. We all had to dig deep to make something new. And it has had a great reaction”.