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...according to our Brian on Thu 16 Apr, 2009.
The Owl Service have this 'The Fabric of Folk' EP out on Static Caravan with Alison O'Donnell. This is full timbre spook folk, the lady has a remarkable voice. She's like a possessed gypsy with a stunning range, a right powerful voice that folds itself round you like velvet on 'The Wooden Coat', a beautifully gothic number. Then it goes proper Steeleye Span on track 2, much ado about Robin Hood etc. More trad flecked folk follows, her voice not permitted to reach the dizzying heights of the opener unfortunately. Track 4 is a twinkly music box effort with a celtic harp in there somewhere! I like track 5 with the multi tracked voices crisscrossing round your head like a dawn chorus on psychedelics, a muted guitar and a wistful fiddle. So there ya go...nice gear!
The story of this release goes back to a brief exchange between Owl Service main man Steven Collins and Alison O’Donnell (of the legendary Irish prog-folk group Mellow Candle) on a social networking website in the Spring of 2007.
The Fabric of Folk is a collision between two ages of folk-rock; Alison was intrigued by the sound of The Owl Service, Steven had been in awe of Swaddling Songs for many years and so a collaboration seemed inevitable. Fabric
contains two original Collins/O’Donnell compositions (one with lyrics penned by Dominic Cooper of the Straw Bear Band), a short instrumental interlude, and two traditional reworkings.
The original songs bookend the EP in perfect fashion and Alison’s treatment of the traditional material in between is masterful. From the ominous opening track The Wooden Coat to the epic finale The Fabric of Life, the listener is taken on a journey through themes of life and death, all handled with a pathos and poignancy so rarely heard in modern folk music.
This clear vinyl LP is limited to 500 copies world wide.
Tracklisting: 01. The Wooden Coat 02. William & Earl Richard’s Daughter 03. Flodden Field 04. Scarlet Threads & Silver Needles 05. The Fabric of Life
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