And so the ever-popular Folk Roundup returns after a short pause to allow for the flood of Winter Festival Themed songs (you remember all of them). And in this return there’s a very modern folk feel on display – nary a traditional tune to be found (well, bar one!). The topics range far and wide, but there’s maybe a common theme of struggles of one type or another.
First up is a fine live rendition of ‘Princess Patricia’s Canadian Light Infantry‘ by Canadian relocated to Scotland Sarah Jane Scouten (whose set we enjoyed at last week’s Americana Week). It’s a solo acoustic rendition of a song from last year’s release ‘Turned To Gold‘, and appears alongside other songs from that album on the new EP ‘Transmutations.’ The song is a thoughtful and emotional exploration of World War I from a woman’s perspective commissioned by Flemish arts organization Dranouter Muziekcentrum for its Modderland project. Says Scouten of the song: “Women were not only raising children who would go off to fight, but they were also making the weapons that would kill others’ sons. The anger and futility of war, the impact of intergenerational trauma – it’s all part of our legacy, and this song tries to capture that complexity.”
meka was raised in California, in a mountainside town dedicated entirely to astronomical research (sounds like Mount Wilson) but has since spent time in Brazil, India, Cambodia and Budapest before eventually arriving at Prague where she lives high in the mountains. Her latest release ‘The Rabbit‘ was recorded in Stockholm at Rymden Studios, and produced and engineered by Daniel Bengtson. She aims for a clasic Seventies folk feel, aiming for echoes of Nick Drake and Vashti Bunyan. Speaking of ‘Tomato Song’ she has said: “Some things are so unbearably sad or unbearably beautiful that it’s hard for me to tell a dream from life from nightmare. My mom does sleep in the garden every summer, protecting her peas and strawberries from deer and rabbits, and you can usually find me perched somewhere with a cigarette, bargaining with death. ‘Tomato song’ is ripe with rot, an ode to the in between, to the Graveyard of Dreams, which also happens to be the Fertile Compost for Hope.”
‘Teardrop‘ is a cover of the Massive Attack song by Craig Fortnam, featuring BBC Folk Singer of the Year nominee and BBC Folk Horizon Award winner Chantelle Pike. It’s taken from the Lush music release ‘In the Bath‘, the fourth in a series of releases reimaging pop songs in a (mostly) folk mode – the latest album focuses in on songs of the nineties. Mark Constantine, the co-founder of Lush, has said of the curated albums: “In my head, I see each of these triple album sets as a part of my autobiography – granted, the years 1991 to 2001 weren’t quite like the sixties and seventies, where music was so powerful in my life. (In some ways I spent that decade in a kind of repeat mode!) But I was still listening to a lot of new music, as I still do today. These songs represent some of my very favourite artists and songs from that period. It’s a privilege to be able to commission these albums and help put them together. Everybody puts so much work into every track, and that’s what people always remark upon whenever they listen to them. Such high quality, and such a joy to be involved.”
Scottish singer Colin Manson is concerned with the impact of both words and deeds, with ‘These Words‘ he’s issuing a challenge to the listener to reflect upon the profound impact of their words and actions. This track explores the immense power of words and how humanity’s use, or misuse of them, is fueling division, destruction and disaster on the planet. Naturally there are options – we can use our words to speak up and make a better world. On this song, Colin works with Chris Bond, platinum award winning producer, who is featured here playing drums. Billie Maree, another incredible singer-songwriter, adds her rich vocal harmonies, and Colin weaves in his second instrument, the Irish whistle, adding haunting melodies throughout the song.
Rapt is the recording name for Londoner Jacob Ware, whose solo delicate guitar accompanied songs are at odds with his first foray into music as bassist for the extreme metal band Enslavement who are…just a teeny bit different sounding. ‘I Will Be My End‘ is taken from the new album ‘Until The Light Takes Us‘ and, like most of the songs on the album, is not quite as gentle as it sounds – the opening lines “I’ve seen Medusa / I’ve seen storms” is actually a reference to Ware’s struggles with both early onset rheumatoid arthritis and epilepsy, the former of which prevented him from playing guitar for a full year.
And, finally, the classic folk track for the month – and, well, like everyone else, we’ve been enjoying the multi-Oscar nominated Dylan movie ‘A Complete Unknown‘ so let’s have something from the Greenwich Village melting pot of folk.
