“Dismissed by your mates, and ignored by loving spouse?
Are you slave to many goblins, and can’t escape the house?”
Welcome to Frenemies, the new original album from
Eliza Carthy and the Restitution
Eliza Carthy MBE has been the multi award-winning irreverent, passionate, difficult face of English folk punk and traditional music since the early 1990s. Born into a formidable musical dynasty, her mother Norma was one of The Watersons and her father Martin Carthy is a hugely influential singer and guitarist, the incredible range of traditional and contemporary musicians who were part of the extended Waterson/Carthy world helped her develop her own unique approach to music.
She has headed the grit, beauty, humour, heartbreak, poetry and dance of the form for over thirty years, and is just announced another of her trademark fulcrum albums.
Here she represents the loudest, loneliest women in love, in her third era and reflecting on motherhood, betrayal and forgiveness. Fury about the state of the world, support for the LGBTQIA+ community, laughing and letting the Gen X hang out, with her chief co-writer and co-producer Ben Seal and her virtuoso long-term band.
Ben Seal (they/them) is a Scottish producer, arranger, mixer and mastering engineer based at their self-built studio, Electric Ladybank. Over the past 25 years, they have worked with some of the UK’s most celebrated folk and contemporary artists, including Michael Marra, Karine Polwart, Kathryn Joseph, Bella Hardy, Shooglenifty, Eliza Carthy and Martin Carthy.
In 2025, Ben co-produced Martin Carthy’s Mercury-nominated album, further cementing their reputation as one of Scotland’s foremost folk and alt-pop producers. Alongside producing acclaimed records across the folk, indie and pop worlds, they have composed for film and television, created music for the stage, and continue to make their own distinctive brand of queer pop under their own name.
The first single,from the album co-written with and produced by Ben ‘Mr Sits In The Dark’ – has just been released:
Some of the fantastic collaborators/players on the album include: Jools Holland, Robyn Hitchcock, KT Tunstall, Jos Vantyler, Queen of Harps, Miranda Richardson and Tim McInnerny.
THURSDAY 22nd October 2026 – ALBUM LAUNCH
Dingwalls, East Yard, 11 Camden Lock Pl, London NW1 8AL, UK
Tickets here: eliza-carthy-and-the-restitution-frenemies-album-launch
For further information please visit her Website: https://eliza-carthy.com/
