The Owl Service - The Burn Comes Down

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4...according to our Clinton on Thu 29 Apr, 2010.

I always seem to get all the folk - this despite my almost zero interest in the genre. One day when I've grown a beard it may feature on heavier rotation but for the moment the latest Cheryl Cole album seems more me. This is a much more linear record than the Phantom Dog Beneath the Moon one I've just played. The second track 'Drive the Cold Winter Away' sets the stall out with carefully electric guitar arpeggios and Sandy Denny like female vocals. This is part of a four disc series on the seasons and this is the winter version. Its all very well sung and played and will appeal to fans of Men an Tol, Trembling Bells, Pentangle, Fairport Convention. Half way through a male vocal takes over and the songs have a very traditional feel. It is actually a very good facsimile of old school British folk music.

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* 2010 sees the return of The Owl Service, following up their critically acclaimed debut album, A Garland of Song, with with an ambitious new project on their own Rif Mountain imprint.

* The Pattern Beneath the Plough is a series of 4 releases spread throughout the year and across different
formats. Part one is a 9 track CD EP entitled The Burn Comes Down. The series sees the band refining both their sound and their approach to arranging traditional song. The result is a timeless collection of exquisitely produced folk-rock which, like their debut album, recalls past giants of the genre such as Mellow Candle, Fairport Convention and Trees, but is stamped with the band's own sound, a sound that's becoming ever more distinctive.

* These are the first recordings to feature all the current members of the seven-strong collective, but once again the band are joined by some old friends, most notably Alison O'Donnell (of Mellow Candle) and Joolie Wood (of Current 93).

* The Burn Comes Down is presented as a single CD in a card wallet. It's followed by a full length CD entitled The View From a Hill in May, the final 2 parts of the series being a 7" of murder ballads and a vinyl mini-album of sea songs due for release later in the year.

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