''Flower and Iron'' is Malinky's fourth album for Greentrax and may well be regarded as their best. Ranked among today's foremost young exponents of Scottish song, Malinky combine an array of vocal talent with a highly distinctive instrumental palette, in fresh yet timeless arrangements of both traditional and contemporary material. Their fast-track progress on the international Celtic scene, since forming in 1998, has been underpinned by outstanding musical prowess, fruitful artistic evolution and maturity well beyond their years. Malinky first emerged at Glasgow's prestigious Celtic Connections festival in 1999, as winners of the Danny Kyle Open Stage award. At a time when most new Scottish bands were focusing on instrumental sounds, their song-centered repertoire immediately marked them out from the crowd. Line-up changes have not altered the Band's instrumental sound and now with three singers, Fiona, Steve and Mark, the vocal sound is strengthened. Most bands would be more than happy with one lead singer to match the richly contrasting qualities of these singers, let alone all three.Malinky is one of Scotland's finest song and instrumental bands at the moment. This is their fourth album for Greentrax Recordings and it clearly illustrates Malinky's vocal strength in Fiona Hunter, Steve Byrne and Mark Dunlop but these three plus Mike Vaas and Dave Wood also show a remarkable depth of strength instrumentally. A very highly recommended album.