My Autumn Empire - The Village Compass

Under the name My Autumn Empire, epic45’s Ben Holton has been writing,recording and performing for over 9 years, doing gigs in France, Japan and Wolverhampton. Along the way, only a handfull of songs and tunes have been released into the wide world, an extremely limited collection entitled ‘Early Days - 2001 to 2005’ and a split release with fellow Wayside & Woodland artist The Toy Library (epic45’s Robert Glover) on Chat Blanc Records.

The Village Compass is the first full solo release from this project and is the result of recordings made during the period of 2005-2008. After a longperiod of mixing and mastering (courtesy of W&W’s Charles Vaughan) the album is finally seeing the light of day.

This album is a focused collection of compositions centered around the idea of life in a remote village. Far from being a dour, introspective record, the music conveys, in parts, a dreamlike state of self imposed isolation. However, all is not idyllic meditations.Lyrically, and in the titles, the songs and tunes deal with loss both on a personal and wider scale.For instance, ‘The Approach of the City’ is a look at the destruction of greenbelt areas and the gradual encroachment of residential and commercial development. Meanwhile, on tracks such as ‘Block Colours & Straight Lines’ and ‘Hatchlings’, it’s a yearning for simpler times and a retreat from the complexities of modern life however unfeasable and untenable that may be.

As far as musical references are concerned, the first place to look could be epic45’s own May your Heart be the Map album, itself a study on a particularly rural, isolated theme. Elsewhere,  you can hear the ghost of Virginia Astley’s ‘From Gardens Where We Feel Secure’ in the air, hints of Bibio’s aged, cyclicle acoustics  and the early work of Greg Davis. 

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