NEW CD with eleven original songs written and performed  by Toni Bunnell. Plus French tunes played on the Appalachian dulcimer.

Toni Bunnell: Vocals, Guitar, Bouzouki, Appalachian dulcimer, Fiddle, Harmonium, Hurdy Gurdy

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Toni Bunnell’s new album ‘Last Port of Call’ is not easy listening. That doesn’t mean it isn’t very good. It is. She knows how to turn a lyric. With her unique, strong and melodic vocal style she deals with subject matters that matter a lot to her, and should to us too. Her songs delve into important events in social history. They reflect upon modern-day burning issues. They tug at our conscience and our need to care for each other in oppressive times. We need such albums to keep us sane.

All this is supported by very accomplished acoustic accompaniment on a variety of stringed instruments. A word too about the sleeve. CD’s come nowadays in a mixture of packaging, some good, many not so good.  The sleeving design of ‘Last Port of Call’ should be made the universal standard. It actually works without having to fiddle about! I thoroughly recommend this album. Every track! Well done Toni.                                                                                    TONY HAYNES  Radio broadcaster and presenter of: FAB, NEW4U & Midnight Mayhem

RNR*** Dec 2019

Toni Bunnell is an honest songwriter. She draws her inspiration from history, contemporary events and life in her native North West and Last Port of Call blends all three. The title track, opening the set, concerns the ongoing situation of refugees, concentrating on the small story of five migrants crossing the English Channel in a small boat while ‘Chaos in Beirut’ looks at the possible causes of such a journey although the central character never gets the chance to leave.

‘The Village Waits’, ‘All Over England’ and, in passing, ‘Ode to Saddleworth Moor’ tell of the struggle of English rural life to maintain its existence. The first is a history of a single village and the changes it has seen. ‘All Over England’ is about the struggle to protect the countryside from yet more building, and the latter concerns the effects of natural disaster. She turns to history with ‘Kaspar Hauser’ and the shortest and possibly the best song on the album, ‘Chocolates, Cookies and Hugs’.

Toni is also a fine multi-instrumentalist and shows off her skills throughout as she layers musical textures with hurdy gurdy and harmonium but particularly on ‘Son Ar Chistr’/’The Bear Dance’. This is another fine album.  Dai Jeffries

1.  Last Port of Call (Bunnell)

2.  The Village Waits (Bunnell)

3.  Son ar Chistr (Trad)/The Bear Dance (Trad)

4.  Chocolates, Cookies and Hugs (Bunnell)

5.  All Over England (Bunnell)

6.  Ode to Saddleworth Moor (Bunnell)

7.  Changes (Bunnell)

8.  Kaspar Hauser (Bunnell)

9.  The Tune (Bunnell)

10. Chaos in Beirut (Bunnell)

11. Call of the Sea (Bunnell)

12. Shadows from the Past (Bunnell)

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