Linda Thompson: Proxy Music review – rueful songs of love and ageing with an all-star cast

As a singer-songwriter, what do you do when you are robbed of your voice? You call in your team, your proxies, to lend their pipes – hence the title of this first album in a decade from Linda Thompson (and its cover, a spoof on Roxy Music’s 1972 debut). Celebrated for her partnership with then husband Richard on a slew of sublime albums between 1974 and 1982, Thompson subsequently had her voice and career wrecked by the onset of spasmodic dysphonia, a neurological voice disorder. Here she calls on her extended family to deliver a set of songs that cast a rueful eye on love and ageing, underscored by an unquenchable sense of hope. The cast list is impressive and includes her son Teddy, who produces, daughter Kami, and their father Richard on guitars, keyboards and harmonies. The Proclaimers bring an uncharacteristically delicate touch to Bonnie Lass, and Darling This Will Never Do is archly delivered by Rufus Wainwright. Closer in mood to her often wintry folk-rock past are I Used to Be So Pretty, voiced by Ren Harvieu, and Three Shaky Ships, boasting the immaculate harmonies of the Unthanks. Eliza Carthy, John Grant and Martha Wainwright are also on hand for a moving celebration of lives well lived.