As ever, we’re more than well supplied with Track choices (it’s not a problem, and of course, we try and fit in as many as possible), and that goes as much for ones we tag with “folk” and put to one side for monthly roundups such as this one. It’s an interesting mix this time, with several plaited strands making up the selection – perils at sea, weird folk and Irish artists. It’s really not planned, it just falls out that way.
Let’s get started with a delve into ‘The Wild‘ with fairly new band Dark & Twisties, whose video offers something of a warning to the curious. And whilst that imagery – all Wickerman and Midsummer folk horror – the actual music is lighter in tone, blending traditional tones with an ethereal edge. The band’s Kate Ronconi states that “‘The Wild’ is a call to acknowledge the power of nature and the fragility of our existence. In a world where we often take for granted what the Earth provides, we wanted to capture the moment when nature reminds us of its strength and importance.”
Lorraine Nash is a 26-year-old multi-instrumentalist from Co. Kerry. She began her musical journey at the age of 6, going on to play Piano, Guitar, Fiddle, Tin Whistle and Flute. She’ll be touring with Hothouse Flowers this Summer, and her latest single is ‘Carraig Aonair‘, which she describes as being a “song [that] hails from the 1690s, written by Conchubhar Ó’Laoghaire in memory of his sons who tragically drowned at sea. They had gone fishing when their boat was wrecked, leaving them stranded on the Carraig Aonair (The Lone Rock, also known as Fastnet Rock). Before they were drowned by the rising tide, one of the men managed to scratch a final message into the boat using the buckle of his shoe. The song was written about Fastnet Rock in Cork and I wanted to honour its origins but also convey my own interpretation of it, musically and visually. When listening to recordings of the song, I couldn’t help but picture the rugged cliffs of West Kerry I know so well. Therefore, we chose to film the music video on the Dingle Peninsula. This is the first song I’ve recorded that I didn’t write myself, which gave me the freedom to be creative in ways I hadn’t before. Knowing that many of the listeners won’t be fluent in Irish, I tried to tell the story through the instrumentation as well as the lyrics. Soundscaping was a completely new experience for me, but it turned out to be deeply rewarding. I aimed to capture the tension, the crashing waves, and the wild wind of the Irish coast — as well as the sorrow and lonesomeness of the song.”
Sticking with Irish shipwrecks, we turn next to ‘The Wreck Of The Julia‘ from the EP “Speak Wreck Speak” by Bring Your Own Hammer is a spectral telling of a 19th-century shipwreck of a ship heading for Liverpool with a load of timber. The ship, The Julia, was dashed against Golam Head in Co. Galway on 2nd January 1873, and the havoc that ensued in the surrounding area in the weeks thereafter as the attraction of timer on a treeless land was balanced against the rules of salvage. Bring Your Own Hammer describe themselves as not a folk collective more a non-political faction dedicated to the reinterpretation of historical events, and the members include Adrian Crowley, Simon Fisher Turner, Stephen Murray, Sean O’Hagan and Mike Smalle.
Leaving weird folk and drowning at sea to one side for a while, we can turn now to rising Scottish folk singer Pippa Blundell and her song ‘Wasted‘ from her debut album “Common Thread”. The song is a raw battle with inner demons—selfishness, greed, and the struggle to appreciate what’s right in front of us. Written whilst her relationship was breaking down during travels through the Dolomites, the driving, rattling rhythms mirror the sound of the rusty campervan the song was composed in, layering guitarmony jangles, moody riffs, and polyrhythms to build a hypnotic tension.
And we can end where we began in the world of, for want of a better phrase, weird folk. Junior Brother might sound like a bluegrass band, but no – Junior Brother is an idiosyncratic and challenging singer/songwriter from Co. Kerry. ‘Small Violence’ is taken from the third album “The End” by Junior Brother, which is also the first release by him on Strap Originals, the label founded by Pete Doherty of The Libertines. Junior Brother says of this song that: “‘Small Violence’ follows a character pulled in by a small few who enjoy using violent words to stoke real violence further down the line. The intro riff was heavily inspired by the Opening Titles of “The Blood on Satan’s Claw”, a Folk Horror from 1971 which I highly recommend to anyone except the sensible.”
And there’s just time for a classic folk song, and with May Day looming, what could be better, and sort of in keeping with the mini-theme of this roundup, than a celebration of the return of the Summer, with all the riches of the land that it will bring. Hopefully.
