One of the stand-out songs on the album is the breezy and carefree Back from Hope with shared vocals and wonderfully expansive fiddle playing from Martin - basically a song about a city-based husband and wife who loved to hike the Peak District's white and dark hills "where we found our rest in walking all the day". It has an underlying theme of migration -'the wind rushes through their lives' - with guitar and banjo interweaving and fluttering like butterflies. The song was inspired by Dartmoor's Roborough Down stone which commemorates two people (one possibly a first generation Irish immigrant). The sublime, quivering Where I Stand was inspired by the Ogham stones (rune-like writing carved onto stone monuments that predominated in Ireland but spread through Wales and the West Country). Two songs are inspired by one of their favourite places - the vast, history-drenched moorland of Dartmoor.Ī lone feather in the middle of a stone circle on Dartmoor triggered the title song - a percussive, banjo driven opening track, showcasing the duo's sophisticated musicianship. Produced by in-demand Mark Tucker (with Phillip Henry) at The Green Room in Devon they have encapsulated that idyll in this album of evocative songs - which features no guest musicians, just a multifaceted duo capable of sounding like a much bigger unit.
Banjo dreamie spiral mountain full#
We returned from Cumbria with a suitcase full of new material - songs of the hills, wild rain and sunshine and the circles of all things, songs for tired hearts and troubled minds." We had been lucky enough to experience kindness, solace, rest and welcome and these were now the things we wanted to sing about. Having had no time or energy the stories and songs started to unfurl and we found that we were writing about hope. We turned off our phones, banked the fire, stocked the fridge and wrote. Hannah says: "We went there in the spring and breathed in the mountain air. Weary from the road they sought a retreat and were offered the use of a remote cottage in the west Cumbrian Lakes. The much travelled pair (tours have taken them to Australia, Japan, South Africa and Canada) said Feather was borne out of a creative block. Pushing more musical boundaries, the fluttering Feather dips and dives managing at the same time to be graceful and majestic, fragile and strong, sometimes mystical, sometimes direct but always soul-stirring. Not only is it an album pumped full of peace and joie de vivre it also sees Henry, following on from his 2018 solo album True North, stepping up his vocal presence. Henry again conjures incredible sounds on dobro, lap steel and beatbox harmonica, while Martin excels on banjo and fiddle and that wholly distinctive vocal.
Banjo dreamie spiral mountain plus#
The Devon duo have been making 'world music from the West Country' since 2010 through four acclaimed studio albums - Singing the Bones, Mynd, Watershed and most recently, after re-naming their act, the eponymous Edgelarks, plus the 2014 live album Live in Calstock.įeather comprises 10 beguiling original songs and a unique take on a traditional English folk song.
It's a class act built on Henry's much extolled musicianship, Martin's highly original songwriting and her deep, soulful voice. Phillip Henry and Hannah Martin have proved themselves one of the most captivating and innovative acoustic duos in the UK - winning the 'Best Duo' accolade at the 2014 BBC Radio 2 Folk Awards and being nominated for the same title again in both 20. But for the estimable Edgelarks, their fifth studio album seemed the perfect time to release Feather, a collection of unruffled songs suffused with hope, joy and celebration - 'bright songs for dark times'. Cheerful songs are often anathema to folk singers.
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