New motherhood has apparently turned Karine Polwart into a protest singer. An eminently grounded one. The disarming simplicity of Better Things – “Is this the best that we can do? Oh, I can think of better things, can’t you?” – makes it far more effective than a closely argued antiwar diatribe. Because the only answer is, yes, we can all think of better things, apart from those in charge; and, if they think an apology will spare them Polwart’s wrath, they haven’t listened to Sorry. Elsewhere, she concentrates on less lyrically pointed fare, ranging from the chiming, jangling The Good Years, at the poppier end of the folk spectrum, to the droning Tongue That Cannot Lie, which is for traditionalists (assuming traditionalists are okay with an Indian shruti box as an accompaniment).

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