Reviews
Artist:The Low Drift Album: The Low Drift
Label: Cwm Saerbren
Tracks: 9
Website: https://www.thelowdrift.com
There are many albums out there that claim a degree of uniqueness, as artists look to find something that elevates their work enough to get a better chance of being noticed. It's understandable; there's a lot of great music out there which makes it harder to stand out. Surely few albums can claim to be more unique that this collaboration between Emma Thorpe, Matt Hill and Huw Costin. The trio worked under the guidance of psychogeographers Jane Samuels and Dr. Morag Rose exploring ancient grren lanes and sunken tracks where our ancestors buried their bones. If you've never heard about phsychogeography before, it's a wonderful rabbit hole to explore, and the perfect starting point is provided with album notes written by Dr. Rose.
The result of all this is a truly beautiful album full of magic and haunting imagery. Through nine songs we get to visit places that have absorbed the life and memories of the many generations that have inhabited our island. We travel from the South Wales valleys to Arthur's Seat in Edinburgh, via the moorland of Bleaklow and the remains of the B-29 Bleaklow Bomber. While we visit ancient Britain and its standing stones and chalk figures of the past, we also glimpse a more modern land, with its new tar roads and negative environmental impacts.
Amongst the many highlights, there are a few songs that stand out. Driftwood opens the album and it is a gorgeous unhurried gem of a track, accompanied by the kind of flute synth used to unsettling effect on tv shows of the 70s and 80s. Thorpe and Costin's duet on Then Came The Rain is wonderful, leading into one of the more tunefully upbeat tracks, Breezeblocks, conjuring images of 70s industrial landscapes. A Gift Of Unknown Things touches on the barbed wire fences, the dissolution of the monasteries, and ancient myths and legends.
The final track is entitled Monyash, and it's a field recording featuring improvised harmonies and the rhythmic drone of a shruti box. The song was captured in the tunnels on the Monsal Trail in the Peak District, and it has the feel of musicians communing with the land around them. All in all a perfect end to the record.
The Low Drift is a wonderfully poetic journey through land and memory, exploring the incredible connections we have to the geography around us. While that geography may not all be all as picturesque as the rolling fields and coastal pathways, it all has an impact on our collective psyche. The attempt at a deep dive into that impact has created a collection of songs that feel at once universal and personal.
Adam Jenkins
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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.
Corsair 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.