A GROUNDBREAKING folk string quartet will play in Lancaster as they celebrate 10 years together.

Methera - a quartet with roots planted in the musical tradition of England and Sweden - will be launching their third album to mark the landmark anniversary.

The album, called 'Vortex', sees the band combine newly written material along with timeless traditional music. It follows on from the eponymous 2007 debut and a 2009 live album 'In Concert'.

The band is made up of Lucy Deakin (cello), John Dipper and Emma Reid (fiddles) and Miranda Rutter (viola) combine a knowledge of traditional music with a wide range of other influences, expertise and musical interaction.

Cello player Lucy Deakin said: "The album title Vortex reflects one of Methera’s trademarks. We always play in the round, in a close inward-facing circle. It means we hear every detail of the collective sound and can bounce off each other’s ideas in real time.

"We arrange all of our music together, and the individual notes we play are rarely set in stone - rather they are influenced by the room, the acoustic, the audience and what we are hearing in the moment."

'Vortex' is released on November 4 and the band play at The Gregson in Lancaster on November 20.