A bleak and meaningful, if puzzling, collection
Front & Follow
Released: 31.8.15
More information on Laura Cannell’s official website
It probably helps to be immersed in early and folk music, as well as modern drone and electro-acoustic experimentalism, to fully understand quite what it is that Cannell has achieved with this new album, but perhaps that’s best left to The Wire. What is immediately apparent is that this set of 10 simple songs – solo pieces featuring just fiddle or recorder – is utterly beguiling, bleak and beautiful. Mining the strong drone tendencies of folk music and its origins, Cannell can summon a barren landscape or sense of loss and yearning with the simplest of motifs, whether overbowing her fiddle or employing a double-recorder technique like a pastoral Roland Rahsaan Kirk. This is soulful, thoughtful music full of texture and emotion.
