Living in Shee luxury

SEXY corsets, red riding jackets, satin skirts and knee-high boots – as the title of their new, second album, Decadence, suggests, The Shee's latest attention-grabber certainly has a luxurious, indulgent veneer.

However, these six highly attractive folk musicians are not likely to be spoon-fed caviar on a comfortable chaise longue backstage at gigs. As the band's redheaded, Borders-bred fiddler Shona Mooney maintains, the decadent theme is much more prevalent within their music than anything associated with their lifestyles.

"Most of the money we earn from gigs goes straight back into the band, so we're not exactly living in the lap of luxury," she says. "That's not to say we don't enjoy having a good time together – we're young women who like to dress up and let our hair down – but the main reason for calling the album Decadence is we believe it'll be a positive indulgence for listeners."

Recorded at the folk world's answer to Abbey Road Studios – Pencaitland's illustrious Castlesounds – The Shee's much-anticipated follow up to debut album A Different Season is a deluxe listening experience. Rich, varied, tightly knit, the most notable thing about Decadence is how accessible it is, especially considering the melting pot of styles (Bluegrass, Gaelic, Scots and Scandinavian) that pepper the band's make-up. Unlike most folk albums these days, though, there are no "special guests" involved in the recording, the girls preferring to do it all themselves.

"What you hear on the album is exactly what you'll hear at our gigs," says Mooney, currently on a two-week nationwide tour to promote Decadence.

"As a six-piece, we cover all instruments and voices, every frequency and range, so we're quite happy doing it ourselves. We didn't consciously set out to make a totally different album, we've merely solidified our sound and developed the musical traditions we're comfortable with. The main thing was making more of a connection between the Scottish stuff and our mandolin player Laura-Beth Salter's bluegrass influences."

Also featuring Rachel Newton (electro-harp and vocals), Amy Thatcher (accordion and clog-dancing), Lillias Kinsman-Blake (flute and whistle), and Olivia Ross (fiddle, viola and vocals), The Shee – named after the Gaelic word for "fairy" (sth) – formed in 2004 when they were all studying on the Newcastle University folk and traditional music degree course. Since then they have spent their time raising their profile, receiving numerous folk-award nominations along the way. With slots at the Cambridge Folk Festival and Glasgow Royal Concert Hall already under their belts, the group have picked up new fans during trips to France, Canada and Italy.

Just last month, Shooglenifty and Cappercaillie invited The Shee to not only share the same stage, but to play one of the girls' tunes – Chilly Winds – alongside them at a folk festival in Belgium. As 26-year-old Mooney stresses, though, The Shee aren't interested in becoming famous.

"I don't care about fame, but I want more people to hear our music," she says. "That's not self-indulgent. I mean, it would be nice to sustain ourselves more: to carry on, we need to make a living. Look at what The Unthanks have done. They've been on Jools Holland, signed to EMI – it shows that by investing in folk bands, they can put themselves in the public eye and still retain control of their work. We could do with investment to help us go the next step, but being able to play together, having fun, knowing there's a future in it – that's how I measure success."

There are limits, however, to how far the band is prepared to go in order to bring their music to a larger audience. Recently invited to take part in a televised audition for Sky1's Must Be The Music, The Shee unanimously decided not to put themselves before the cameras. An opportunity missed?

"No," says Mooney without a hint of regret. "In retrospect, I'm really glad we didn't do it. It's no better than Britain's Got Talent – you might get to play your own music, but it's still people getting mocked on TV and having their hopes crushed. They wanted us to play a three-minute piece, but to understand what we do – the instrumentals, the singing, and the clog dancing – there's just no way to condense it.

"They asked us to do a cover – they meant doing a Britney Spears or Take That song in our own style – but we've got to a good level now by being in control of our music, and deciding, creatively, what to do on our own terms. Having the rights to your own music is a valuable thing."

• Decadence is out now. For details, visit www.theshee.com