Juni Habel – Evergreen In Your Mind
The Norwegian singer-songwriter’s third album sees her trademark genteel folk in full flow and finds Juni with, perhaps, a sunnier disposition than we’ve seen before.
Released on local Todmorden label Basin Rock, the album is dreamlike and comforting, built around subtle acoustic guitar pickings reminiscent of classic folksters Linda Perhacs and Nick Drake.
It’s an intimate record, much of it captured in the quiet corners of Habel’s own home and in the school where she works. There’s an alignment to nature and stillness. The production has been handled with extreme care, with traces of familiar, ambient sounds in the background lending it an authentic feel. That said, Habel’s airy voice gives it a cordial, inviting quality too.
The opener Another High sets the tone – and the bar – moulding various folksy textures into a heart-swelling ball of warmth. It is akin to Adrianne Lenker at her most fractured and brilliant best. The woodland harmonies of the title track are another standout moment – like much of the album, it brings to mind the early work of Hayley Heynderick.
Despite the album’s calming, minimalist demeanour, there’s a lot going on in these songs, yet each element has been dealt with artfully and respectfully. Pearl Cloud Song is flush with streams of delicate instrumentation. It must have been an exercise in restraint to not coat it with vocals too, but it was the right call. The same goes for the hypnotic Guitarhum.
Lyrically, Juni is in retrospective mood here, though that’s not to say it’s particularly inward-looking. She finds peace in reviewing the past, clinging to fond memories as a way to move forward. And move forward she most certainly has. Evergreen In Your Mind is a quiet-yet-confident step up in both songwriting and delivery.
The Primitive Percussion Youth Orchestra – Gabble Ratchets
Given the flighty nature of our hectic modern lives, you could be forgiven for skimming past a new album billed as “a supernatural journey through the Upper Calder Valley by a line up of 7-10 year old children”. However, swerve at your peril, for this is a delightful trove of earthly atmospherics and sweeping experimentation, worthy of a discerning audience.
Led by Mark S Williamson (aka Spaceship Mark) the PPYO has been building a unique catalogue of compelling ambient-drone recordings since 2016. They make innovative, improvised music, often with pre-loved instruments, capturing the guts and ghosts of local legends as they go.
The group itself is an evolving mix of primary school students. Those who play on the PPYO’s latest adventure, Gabble Ratchets, are from Cornholme School near Todmorden. Half of them are PPYO veterans and half are newcomers.
The mythical inspiration for the album is a pack of hellhounds who run their wild hunt at Halloween from Eagle Cragg to the summit of Stoodley Pike. The Gabble Ratchets make for an interesting tale. They’re not a phenomenon unique to the Calder Valley. In fact, Cumbrian poet William Wordsworth wrote about them in one of his sonnets in 1807:
“For overhead are sweeping the Gabriel Hounds
Doomed with the imperious lord, the flying hart
To chase forever on aerial grounds.”
The archaic narrative indicates that ‘gabble’ may be an old term for ‘corpse’, suggesting the hounds’ spectral journey could be an echo of an earlier burial route. As such, the PPYO’s album forges a pathway, a voyage, full of vivid imagery with the song titles denoting various landmarks – To Orchan Rocks, By Blackheath Barrow and Climbing The Pike.
Using percussion, homemade bowed strings and piano, the album guides you through the strange and eerie atmosphere of our ancient valley, conjuring spirits in the fog as you glide across its mysterious landscape. It is haunting, fragile and foreboding. You feel as if you’re sinking into new depths as each track unfolds. Until, that is, the final two offerings – Climbing The Pike and Dawn Chorus – which suggest a gradual ascension, metaphysical and metaphorical, towards a new realm and a new beginning.
Adelaide Taylor – Alleviate
Adelaide Taylor has released an impressive trio of tracks this year and the latest, Alleviate, is perhaps the strongest yet. There’s a deep, rich sense of musicality and mature song craft to it, marrying the nonchalance and simplicity of new-folk heroes like Aldous Harding with the emotive pop force of someone like Regina Spektor. Remember her?
With its slow-dance piano lines, theatric tones and power-vocal, it feels made for the stage. Taylor-made. Her voice is incredibly versatile and the overall production is accomplished. The artwork is damn fine too.
Adelaide has been gigging regularly around the Calder Valley in recent months to wide acclaim. Keep your eyes peeled for more dates and more releases. She’s in prolific mood.
Felled – Breathe / Teeth
Hard-hitting duo Felled debut with a riotous double-A sider that reeks of Osees and Pissed Jeans. An offshoot (geddit) of local fuzz-rock trio The Tall Trees, they sound, comfortingly, just like every great two-piece noise outfit should – as if there’s six of them in a tiny room bashing the hell outta some battered old gear, straining every sinew and loving every minute.
Breathe is all about the riff, driven along with pounding drums and a throat-ripping vocal. But, with a melodic middle eight, it has finesse too. Teeth has more of a punk-ish crunch to it. It’s got the grin-and-growl charm of someone like Mclusky.
An urgent and invigorating first release.
The Caymans – Nowhere, NW
The third single from a revamped Caymans comes with plenty of star-studded adornments – not least in the shape of two big-name bass players: Tom Chapman (New Order) produced the track and Carl Hunter (The Farm) has directed the accompanying video.
The Caymans are benefiting from their connections to the Piece Hall. They were the first local band to sign up to the venue’s Academy project, which offers free training and mentorships to help create sustainable careers in music, performance, recording, production and live events.
But the Halifax four-piece more than deserve such heavyweight backing. Their songwriting has always been earnest and brave, harking back to mid-80s pop and noughties indie-guitar.
Nowhere, NW packs a mightier punch than most previous efforts. There’s a real rock swagger in the vocals, with deft harmonies adding sweetness and light. Meanwhile, bolshy drums, beneath layers of reverb and echo, create an Oasis / Cast vibe.
Tom Chapman: “I tried to capture every section with pure energy while still allowing the melody and lyrics to breathe.”
It augurs well for their biggest show to date, supporting The Wombats, at The Piece Hall this summer.
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