SPELL SONGS - SPELL SONGS II - LET THE LIGHT IN

SPELL SONGS - SPELL SONGS II - LET THE LIGHT IN
(Thirty Tigers) V2 Records

Release date: Friday, December 10th 2021

Spell Songs is a musical companion piece to The Lost Words & The Lost Spells books by Robert Macfarlane & Jackie Morris, featuring the musical genius of Karine Polwart, Julie Fowlis, Seckou Keita, Kris Drever, Rachel Newton, Beth Porter & Jim Molyneux

Commissioned by Folk by the Oak Festival in 2018, the original, highly successful Spell Songs album (released in 2019) was inspired by, and became the musical companion piece to, the bestselling, prize-winning, and much-loved book The Lost Words co-authored by writer Robert Macfarlane and artist Jackie Morris. Those already familiar with The Lost Words, will know it as a work full of wildness, beauty, loss, and hope.

This award-winning book has become ‘a cultural phenomenon’ (The Guardian), beginning ‘a revolution’ (Chris Packham) and moving people across the UK to work with charities, book shops and local communities to raise money to get the book into schools, hospices, and care homes, whilst simultaneously inspiring a whole cultural sphere passionate about conservation from opera, dance, film and theatre through to the Spell Songs band and so much more.

With the release of their ‘little sister’ follow up book The Lost Spells in October 2020 the authors gave voice and presence to even more wildlife which presented the Spell Songs musicians (Karine Polwart, Julie Fowlis, Seckou Keita, Kris Drever, Rachel Newton, Beth Porter and Jim Molyneux) with a glorious wealth of new artwork and poetry to explore for their second album Spell Songs II: Let The Light In.

 

Spell Songs II: Let The Light In is born out of the same heartfelt concerns that informed the artwork and poetry within these two books, namely, the loss of our natural world, the need for a more compassionate view of the wild and a determination that there is still hope.

Tracklist: SPELL SONGS - SPELL SONGS II - LET THE LIGHT IN

1. Bramble03:44

2. St Kilda Wren02:12

3. Oak04:49

4. Swifts03:26

5. Jay04:04

6. Daisy01:44

7. Swallow04:35

8. Bird Of The Blizzard04:34

9. Thrift (Dig In, Dig In)04:24

10. Gorse03:27

11. Red Is Your Art03:38

12. Barn Owl03:38

13. Moth04:09

14. Curlew04:20

15. Silver Birch04:15

Reunited in April 2021, after multiple pandemic postponements, the Spell Singers eagerly joined Jackie and Robert at Greta Hall (once home to Samuel Taylor Coleridge) in the heart of the Lake District to begin their second collaborative residency. Each song may have originated within the hearts of one or two of the musicians, but through communal creative respect and generous musicianship these acorns of ideas were soon turned into truly collaborative works resulting in a stunning and unique album.

Andy Bell, the producer for both albums, witnessed the creation of each song during both residentials. This gave him a unique understanding of their origins. When it came to the recording process at Rockfield Studio and for the second album, Peter Gabriel’s Real World Studios, he was ideally placed to express the true beauty of all of the songs. The finished albums are timeless and accomplished and have a deep presence that will soar straight to your heart and stay there.

These songs are infused with folk, world, experimental, rock, alt-country, classical and traditional elements which capture the essence of the ‘Lost’ books. Spoken voice, whispers, accents, dialects, native languages, birdsong, the bark of foxes, the soft sound of a moth’s wing, the sound of a children’s climate strike; all increase the intimacy and power of the musical world conjured by the Spell Songs band.

For more inofmration contact: -Stefan.Hayes@v2benelux.com