Never believe that we will not dare the most blatant cliché, we are Americana UK and we know no fear. Well, there’s spiders of course, oh, and big poisonous snakes. And small poisonous snakes. And Hollyhocks. But cliché, that holds no terror for us. So, as Halloween is all but upon us we bring you the latest single from folk band Nightsong.
‘The Spell‘ is a retelling of some family history, as the band’s Jo Beth Young explains: “This project has asked me to dig into my own ancestry which includes my Dad’s family line on the East Coast and Borders of Scotland. Some years ago found out that a few ‘Young’ women from Selkirk had been charged with witchcraft. I have always had a great interest in that era, and the song is an acceptance that even if we kill someone that has an idea we don’t agree with, the idea will continue in another person and carry on. We don’t end the idea by ending the person. When I later discovered the story of Issobel Young, who is very likely an ancestor, I was amazed to see in her trial notes she owned some objects that I own today and had practices in her life similar to mine. I didn’t know about Issobel’s story when I wrote the song so it seemed eerie to have written the line “I’ll keep coming back, I’ll keep coming back.”
