A thick, distant rumble, the metallic sheen of an accordion drone and a woman singing a traditional Gaelic lament for the dead: these open Keening, the first track on the most fascinating folk-adjacent set of the summer. Wild Gods is a new project from Argyll’s Jamie Livingstone, a regular collaborator with the Scottish electronic producer Barry Can’t Swim. This release is inspired by the waulking songs of the Hebrides: communal songs traditionally sung by women as they beat and softened tweed before mechanisation transformed the industry’s rhythms.
With Gaelic archival recordings and melodies rooted in Celtic ceremonial music also being stirred into this bubbling brew, these eight tracks reveal the occasional, fascinating proximity between post-rock and folk-rock. After Keening, 10-minute Carlene’s Pin marries Susannah Stark’s gorgeous Gaelic vocals to clanging Bad Seeds guitars, folk fiddle, and a bassline recalling Godspeed You! Black Emperor at their most defiantly uncheery. Rest and Be Thankful, named after both a classic Scottish reel and a famous A83 viewpoint where couples are known to meet to have sex, is deliberately built up as a tender ballad, before moments of joyous folk dance strut and erupt; a shimmering interlude follows. Ortha, named after a Celtic incantation, reflects another of Livingstone’s inspirations: a transformative ayahuasca experience.
The project has roots in Livingstone’s work with Vox Liminis, a Glasgow arts organisation supporting people with experience of the criminal justice system through creative projects. It adds deeper context to this being music that mines the past, while being a vehicle for healing. From the exquisite fiddling in Hilma of Klint, named after the pioneering Swedish mystic and abstract painter, to the finale, Aye Right – which brings together rippling passages of fingerpicked guitar with samples of congregational psalm singing that slide in and out like parts of a fever dream – this is mercurial music, but also heavy with regenerative power.
Released 24 July
Also out this month
Sam Carter Sings Nic Jones (Captain Records) is a love-filled live tribute to the Kent-born guitarist, fiddler and arranger, arriving with cover art recalling Jones’s 1980 folk masterpiece, Penguin Eggs. Especially lovely is Carter’s take on Jones’s arrangement of the 19th-century ballad Canadee-i-o, and the way his delivery gently recalls Jones’s no-nonsense, spirited fluency. Polish trio Tercet Imperial’s debut album Prymat (Instant Classic) is very different: an energetic, eccentric delight, reimagining traditional Polish oberek and mazurka waltz-time dances in a sound world stacked with synthesisers and eight-bit electronics. Elsewhere, Martin Carthy’s Along the Road Forever: Live at the BBC is a staggering piece of work: encompassing nearly 23 hours of music by one of English folk’s greatest pioneers, including 237 unique repertoire performances, and tons of fabulous archival material.
