Reviews
Artist:Fritillaries Album: Fritillaries
Label: Pear O'Legs
Tracks: 10
Website: https://www.fritillaries.uk
Fritillaries are bell-shaped flowers that bloom in spring. Fritillaries are also a Bristol-based folk and Americana duo, comprising Hannah Pawson and Gabriel Wynne. As I mentioned when I reviewed the single 'Lost My Mind' they were previously called Rainy Day Woman but changed the name because "being forever tied to a Bob Dylan song is pretty basic and quite limiting, plus it makes finding us on the internet needlessly difficult".
I described 'Lost My Mind' as producing a delicate gentle sound from guitar, mandolin, and strings. That would also describe opener 'Unearthing' which is as close to a title song as the album has. "Grasp the hand of remembering, unearthing the places that we hide. Now I sow Fritillaries". They describe it as a" song about gardening, therapy, and the things we inherit. Hannah was thinking about the parts of ourselves that are intentionally and unintentionally passed down: a complicated root system, with threads she felt she could gently unfurl, tug and trace." And that seems to be typical of the thought process that they give to many of their songs. Musically, 'In the Dark', a song about journeying, connection, and self-discovery, starts with a more Celtic feel. 'Little Bird' highlights the Americana side, Appalachian folk that bears similarities to some of Jolie Holland, or be Good Tanyas' work. Together in Flight could be Dead Can Dance, with a menacing medieval sound over Pawson's fragile vocal.
Kit Masey's violin part on 'Picture In The Frame' raises a straightforward folk song into something altogether darker. The album winds down through more wistful songs to the closer 'Nights Are Drawing In', a stately, wistful song that finds the Fritillaries planted in the first song being watched for signs of growth.
The words, written over the course of two years, can be read as poems as much as lyrics, a good reason to buy the CD version is the booklet with the lyrics in it, so you can read and understand them. Fritillaries are touring in support of the album through September and have a coupe of festival dates in August. This is a delicate beautiful flower of an album, and the date in Bristol with a string band is already pencilled into my diary. See you there but buy the album first.
Tim Martin
| Previous | Next |
|---|---|
| Hanterhir: Nyns Eus Denvydth Bys Trest | Durham County Poets: Out Of The Woods |
Recent Reviews
- The Gothic Cowboy:The Dealer
- Hamish Napier:The Hill
- Ethan Setiawan:Little Storms
- Colin Holt:Bunker Tapes
- Bonfire Radicals:Spaghetti Junction
- Baka Beyond:Sing The World Awake
- Various Artists:Best_Day_Of_All_Time
- Toby Shaer:Amalgam
- Siskin Green:Living In The Echo
- Nick Jonah Davis:Rose Delta Rising
Unearthing
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.