Beyond The 45
Singles, EPs, Downloads
The Fatea office also serves as a home for our weekly Along The Tracks show on Folk Friday Radio and as a rule singles and Eps have generally gone in that direction whilst Fatea generally concentrates on albums and live reviews for our full length feature, but with more artists going back down the single route to keep themselves in the public eye, we thought it was time to reflect that in our offerings and as rules are made to be broken or at the very least adapted, welcome to the Singles Round Up.
Josienne Clarke - Green Grow The Laurels
josienneclarke.com
An enchanting version of this trad English folk song. Josienne Clarke leads us through an English country garden where we find ourselves lamenting loves lost, although hoping that, fingers crossed, there will be other roses to pick with far fewer thorns. Josienne never fails to charm us with her stunning, unique vocals. MF
Johnny Campbell - John Clare's Dream
johnnycampbell.co.uk
Hooked from the moment this plays. It has the feel of a timeless folk song, handed down from generation to generation. The stripped back arrangement is subtle and compliments the vocalist delivery impeccably. Johnny's voice is warm, invites you in, and now, eyes closed me and my imagination are walking fields and mountains fine sharing in John Clare's Dream. MF
Rebecca Hill And Charlie Stewart - Kait's
www.rebeccaandcharliemusic.com
Glasgow duo Rebecca Hill And Charlie Stewart play harp and fiddle. Their latest single is an instrumental in a traditional Scottish style. It's also the first notice of their second album due in October. Having seen them live at Celtric Connections, and again at a small festival in Dunkeld I can only say, listen to this single and make sure you catch them live whenever you van. TM
Amelie Giardini - Beast
www.facebook.com/ameliegiardini
French/Australian singer Amelie Giardini is based in London, and her new single Beast looks at toxic relationships. The sparse arrangement, with piano and bass, builds tension into the words. A spikey guitar emerges in the middle of the song but leave space for the words to come across effectively. Her voice has a delicacy which reflects the song's theme of being "a fragile mind." A name to keep an ear out for. Her other recent song Red Pill is just as good. TM
Ranagri - Bound For New York City
ranagri.com
Inspired by a true story of Irish immigrants building New York's skyscrapers, "Bound for New York City" captures the hardship, hope, and heartbreak of leaving home for a new world while never forgetting the homeland left behind. The band are a new name to me although they have seven albums to their name. Folk Rock with a poppy, trancey feel to it, this is a unique sound and one that I'll be digging into. Theya re on tour as I write this and I've booked to see them At Downend Folk. The single's that good. TM
Something Sleeps - Rocks of Bawn
somethingsleeps.com
Wow! Straight in, grand harmonies, simple stripped back drone opening with a slow gradual introduction of additional instrumentation. I have to say that, in my opinion, this is one of the best renditions of this traditional Irish folk song I have heard. It simply weeps with passion, a pure listening joy. MF
Sean Taylor - Everybody Knows
www.seantaylorsongs.com
Blues Rock never goes away but can often be a rather routine listen. Not Sean Taylor whose version of the Leonard Cohen song is a refreshing change form the bombast of much modern blues. There is acres of space between his voice which owes more to the Mississippi delta than the Thames. The feel is close to some of RL Burnside's more traditional work, with savagely picked guitar, and just enough from the rhythm section to drive the song forward. This is how the blues should be done. TM
Regan & Bricheno - Kite Flying
reganbricheno.com
This single from Julianne Regan and Tim Bricheno from All About Eve is offered in 3 forms. The original mix, and one each from the two players. The Pylon Poet mix, by Julianne Regan, and the Crystallised Mix by Tim Bricheno. The main song is a simple piece with acoustic guitar as the base on which chiming electric, in the All About Eve mode and Regan's distinctive vocal sit. It's a good song and stands on its own merits as a single, but the 2 mixes offer something quite different. Regan's Pylon Poet Mix is built around a wordless vocal and distant snippets of the lyrics, while the Crystallised Mix from Tim Bricheno maintains more of the song structure while still using the wordless vocal to build the tune. Guitars and synths appear on this mix after the first verse. A fascinating look at how two participants can see the same song in very different ways. TM
Bill Fellows - Finally Found It
www.facebook.com/Billfellows12
Actor and singer Bill Fellows has apparently been in something called Coronation Street. This second single is a Celtic folk song that is the second one since he decided to share the results of writing for his own pleasure for more than 30 years. Its narrative lyric is clearly drawn from his acting background, but there is no clue that he has only just turned to music. The song is strong and the performance is as good as you would expect from someone who had been releasing music for 30 years. There's an album following shortly. TM
Briggs & Stark - Side Of The Road
https://www.briggsandstark.com/
The title of the new single "Side Of The Road" by Briggs & Stark includes "(Radio Edit"), which is brilliant news as it implies that there is a longer album (or EP) version soon to be released. Matthew and Claudia are a fairly new couple, having relatively recently gone through the stresses of moving. They have used an analogy of their car breaking down by the side of the road to describe their life together. Beset by unexpected problems but still very much in love. PB
Bitw - Gaddo Glaw
www.instagram.com/bitwbitwbitw
Welsh language art pop, with a wah-wah guitar and synth counterpointing the words. Bitw is the project of Gruff ab Arwel, and the song has a pleasingly homemade feel to it. Lo-fi and Welsh seem to go together and the words, which are about climate crisis and the general state of the world would make for as bleak a song in any language. TM
Floor Jansen - Bring Me Silence
https://www.floorjansen.com/
Nightwish frontwoman, Floor Jansen's first solo album was written just as the covid lockdown ended and was mainly a celebration of the end of the silence that the forced incarceration brought to the music industry. Since then, her solo career has exploded. With her cancer diagnosis and treatment, the birth of her second child and multiple appearances on Dutch TV her life has been very busy since. Having already suffered from burnout, Floor is now very aware that she needs that silence again. With a second solo album due for release in January, along with the recording of a new Nightwish album next year, Floor is aware that she needs to balance the chaos and the silence very carefully. This track is heavier than anything from her previous album, but Floor is capable of singing anything. PB
Ivor Game - I'm Pretty Sure That I've Been Here Before
http://www.ivorgame.com/main.html
Ivor Game is pretty prolific, having released around thirteen albums, at a rate of around one every two years, though in the last few years he has only released EPs and singles. "I'm Pretty Sure That I've Been Here Before", as the title suggests, is about that Deja Vu feeling with his soft, calming voice taking you, as well as him, back to childhood. As is customary with Ivor, this song is far too short. PB
Si Morley - Devon Daydreams
www.simorleymusic.com
A love song to the Devon coastline, which despite living in Hampshire is clearly a big draw. A repeated guitar phrase with an extra lead line, this is a simple song which makes us all want to head to the place he is writing about. TM
Freya Everest - Honey TV
www.instagram.com/freya.everest
Honey TV aims to capture the cosiness, warmth and safety one feels when truly home. For Freya that is sat on the sofa with her cat and favourite people, chatting, snuggling, watching TV. The Cello and piano music have that feel of an evening spent doing not very much but doing with the people who matter. The drifting harmonies and guitar have a languid feel reflected in the words. Beautiful. TM
Fatea Showcase Sessions
The Fatea Showcase Sessions are a series of downloads featuring acts that we've really enjoyed and think that more people should get the chance to hear.
Pirate is the current session and features 16 fantastic artists check out the website to find out more about them and download your copy
www.fatea-showcase-sessions.co.uk for all the artist information.
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