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Frequently Bought Together
Product details
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Track Listings
| 1. Billowing Sea |
| 2. Reckless |
| 3. Ropes |
| 4. Little Deaths |
| 5. Dancers |
| 6. Pause |
| 7. Openings |
| 8. Calendar |
| 9. Light |
| 10. Witch Of Pittenween |
| 11. Bones |
Product Description
Review
What a peculiar place folk finds itself in at the start of 2011. A pleasant place, but nevertheless far from anticipated. With coverage of the recent Radio 2 Folk Awards more prominent than ever, winners like Chris Wood and Bellowhead beamed into the living rooms of new audiences, and folk-influenced artists Laura Marling and Mumford & Sons succeeding at the Brits – the latter outfit were shortlisted for a Grammy, too – it’s clear the genre is in rude health. It is poised, perhaps, for the first time in decades, to properly impress upon the mainstream.
So, what next? More artists in the Mumford mould, taking tropes from traditional songs but filtering influences through pop accessibility? Or great live bands like Bellowhead following (Roots Award-winners) the Levellers into the charts? Perhaps the answer lies somewhere between these two potential points, with artists like Emily Barker. Clearly schooled in the style of Britain’s folk convention and rooted in a time before tweed-clad boys went multi-platinum, acoustic guitars leading the way in a mix making space for accordion, brass and banjo, the Australian singer’s warm tones are easily the equal of any crossed-over artist. Working with the trio of Gill Sandell, Anna Jenkins and Jo Silverston – The Red Clay Halo – Barker adopts a point-man position for some wonderful four-part harmonies which envelop the listener, each vowel draped in the finest velvet.
Barker has already begun to make the right inroads – lead single Little Deaths, a delightfully woozy composition with an airiness that belies its portentous lyrical content ("It’s the little deaths of ideas / That dash me against the rocks"), has enjoyed support beyond folk circles, and her pre-Red Clay Halo releases were recommended by John Peel. Nostalgia, the opening track on Barker’s 2008 LP Despite the Snow, was used as the theme tune to BBC 1’s Wallander, and subsequently won a Bafta. With such fine groundwork laid, Almanac’s 11 tracks of pirouetting melodies, entrancing lyrics and overarching tone of endearing honesty will, surely, guide the singer to a greater level of recognition still. Everything’s here to make it so, certainly.
From the bucolic build that opens Billowing Sea, via the mournful strings of Dancers – which, again, treads a lyrical path to bodies of water – to the sumptuous climax of Bones, a song capping the album’s greatly graphical wordplay with talk of "a wound of a thousand cuts", this is a dream of a record. So perfectly formed is it that, chances are, the listener will need to go around again immediately, to make sure they weren’t imagining anything. A new Marling, then? No, Barker offers something else – vocals that soar and arrangements that shine, but all the time anchored by a strong, sincere respect for the heritage behind an inevitable rise.
--Mike Diver
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Product Description
New 2012 album from UK-based,Western Australia-born indie-folk songstress.Includes 'Pause' from the BBC TV series 'The Shadow Line'.
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Customer Reviews
Most Helpful Customer Reviews
9 of 9 people found the following review helpful
Format:Audio CD
Emily Barker & The Red Clay Halo - Almanac (Everyone Sang)
With Mumfords picking up all sorts of gongs, and Bellowhead and the Unthanks cleaning up at mainstream summer festivals and fronting their own shows on BBC4, folk music is definitely on the up.
Australian born Emily Barker (with The Red Clay Halo) has already turned heads with her 2008 offering "Despite The Snow", and if greater success follows with "Almanac" expect to start seeing and hearing Barker and her band everywhere. Without a doubt, they have the potential to be huge. Their songs seem tailor-made for radio play; the arrangements drip lavish strings and each comes fully formed with the sort of vocal hooks pop fans crave - and what fine vocals they are.
It's a winning combination that will appeal across the board and even the gloomiest amongst us must take pleasure at the gypsy excess of "Ropes" or the lightheaded thrill of "Little Deaths". 9/10.
Comment
With Mumfords picking up all sorts of gongs, and Bellowhead and the Unthanks cleaning up at mainstream summer festivals and fronting their own shows on BBC4, folk music is definitely on the up.
Australian born Emily Barker (with The Red Clay Halo) has already turned heads with her 2008 offering "Despite The Snow", and if greater success follows with "Almanac" expect to start seeing and hearing Barker and her band everywhere. Without a doubt, they have the potential to be huge. Their songs seem tailor-made for radio play; the arrangements drip lavish strings and each comes fully formed with the sort of vocal hooks pop fans crave - and what fine vocals they are.
It's a winning combination that will appeal across the board and even the gloomiest amongst us must take pleasure at the gypsy excess of "Ropes" or the lightheaded thrill of "Little Deaths". 9/10.
Comment
15 of 16 people found the following review helpful
Format:Audio CD
Although it has its darker moments Australia-born singer/songwriter
Emily Barker's new album 'Almanac' is a largely warm-hearted affair.
Even when she tackles a break-up song like opening track
'Billowing Sea' the almost jaunty arrangement bounces along
helping her to keep her pecker up and her dignity intact.
Her ensemble The Red Clay Halo (Gill Sandell, Jo Silverston
and Anna Jenkins, who provide vocal harmonies and play a
wide range of musical instruments) are further augmented by
Ted Barnes, guitars; Nat Butler, drums; Ali Friend, double bass;
Liz Jones, trumpet and Ben Eshmade on french and flugel horns.
Together they create a gloriously varied sonic tapestry for
Ms Barker to embroider with her confident but pretty voice.
There are eleven songs in the collection. The roots of the
music dig deep into both folk and country traditions and
come back with a barrel-load of riches. Stories! That's
what it is! It is Ms Barker's stories which make 'Almanac' so
special. She has taken time to think carefully about her subjects
and the resulting tales, as well as the luminous music, bring a
sense of time, place and pathos to the project's overall mood.
Some of these compositions are truly delightful. 'Dancers',
co-written with Ted Barnes, is as fresh and clear as the morning
dew. A simple melody full of longing and (here as elsewhere) a
palpable scent of the sea. The waves are never far away.
In 'Pause' Ms Barker sings : "Who am I without your love?"
The song is a real heart-breaker. (Who among us has not asked
the same question at least once in our lives?!) The pace is
slow; the organ and guitar ponderous; the harmonies sublime.
All-in-all one of the most painfully beautiful inventions I
have heard in the waxing and waning of a year's full moons.
'Calendar', on the other hand, is a cautiously cheerful affair.
A reflection on what we might lose in the world if we don't
take care of it somewhat better than we currently seem to be.
'Witch Of Pittenweem' delivers one of the album's most powerful
narratives. Her subject's fate is described in imagery of savage
and disturbing clarity. Based on an account of witch trials in
the Scottish fishing village of Pittenweem in the early 1700's,
Ms Barker's imaginative response brings the horror back to life.
Final track 'Bones' may well have a historically determined
context too but we are treated instead to a distillation of
reflections on violence, death and decay which, within the
framework of a highly evocative musical arrangement, brings
the album to a chilling and ambiguous close.
'Almanac' is an album full of ghosts and memories brought into
vivid being by Ms Barker's skillful management of her muse
and consummate understanding of her craft. Utterly magical.
Highly Recommended.
Emily Barker's new album 'Almanac' is a largely warm-hearted affair.
Even when she tackles a break-up song like opening track
'Billowing Sea' the almost jaunty arrangement bounces along
helping her to keep her pecker up and her dignity intact.
Her ensemble The Red Clay Halo (Gill Sandell, Jo Silverston
and Anna Jenkins, who provide vocal harmonies and play a
wide range of musical instruments) are further augmented by
Ted Barnes, guitars; Nat Butler, drums; Ali Friend, double bass;
Liz Jones, trumpet and Ben Eshmade on french and flugel horns.
Together they create a gloriously varied sonic tapestry for
Ms Barker to embroider with her confident but pretty voice.
There are eleven songs in the collection. The roots of the
music dig deep into both folk and country traditions and
come back with a barrel-load of riches. Stories! That's
what it is! It is Ms Barker's stories which make 'Almanac' so
special. She has taken time to think carefully about her subjects
and the resulting tales, as well as the luminous music, bring a
sense of time, place and pathos to the project's overall mood.
Some of these compositions are truly delightful. 'Dancers',
co-written with Ted Barnes, is as fresh and clear as the morning
dew. A simple melody full of longing and (here as elsewhere) a
palpable scent of the sea. The waves are never far away.
In 'Pause' Ms Barker sings : "Who am I without your love?"
The song is a real heart-breaker. (Who among us has not asked
the same question at least once in our lives?!) The pace is
slow; the organ and guitar ponderous; the harmonies sublime.
All-in-all one of the most painfully beautiful inventions I
have heard in the waxing and waning of a year's full moons.
'Calendar', on the other hand, is a cautiously cheerful affair.
A reflection on what we might lose in the world if we don't
take care of it somewhat better than we currently seem to be.
'Witch Of Pittenweem' delivers one of the album's most powerful
narratives. Her subject's fate is described in imagery of savage
and disturbing clarity. Based on an account of witch trials in
the Scottish fishing village of Pittenweem in the early 1700's,
Ms Barker's imaginative response brings the horror back to life.
Final track 'Bones' may well have a historically determined
context too but we are treated instead to a distillation of
reflections on violence, death and decay which, within the
framework of a highly evocative musical arrangement, brings
the album to a chilling and ambiguous close.
'Almanac' is an album full of ghosts and memories brought into
vivid being by Ms Barker's skillful management of her muse
and consummate understanding of her craft. Utterly magical.
Highly Recommended.
3 of 3 people found the following review helpful
Format:Audio CD
I can't believe there are currently only 2 other reviews for this brilliant album! I was attracted to it as it features the theme for "The Shadow Line" and I had already enjoyed the Wallander theme so was ready to enjoy it. The first listen confirmed the potential. What I wasn't ready for was how it grabbed me as I listened further and the beauty and complexity of arrangements and harmonies took hold. Delicate folk songs lead to powerful crescendos. Stories abound. There are things for everyone here. You can feel the ghosts of great performers who have gone before - name your own, depending on your age! Boundaries blur between folk and country and Emily has a voice that copes with blues and jazz. Yet the outcome is unique rather than merely derivative. I have enjoyed many of the artists and albums in the latest folk revival but this is certainly up there with the best.
Most Recent Customer Reviews
Lovely album ......
I bought this, like other reviewers, based on the song "Pause" being the haunting theme to the wonderful "The Shadow Line" shown on the telly recently. Read more
Published 4 months ago by L. Thomas
An Investment
I would describe the sound of Emily Barker and the Red Clay Halo as a cross between Amy MacDonald and June Tabor, but without the resonance of either, at least not in the... Read more
Published 4 months ago by Fantasy Lore
Pause
I bought this ablum for the song pause which I heard fro hit BBC one show Shadow Line, the rest of the ablum is great which some great song on it
Published 5 months ago by Mr R
Coming out of the shadows.....
Went to her gig at the The Jericho in Oxford before I bought the album, not least as result of her soundtracking 'The Shadowline' on TV recently;I was not disappointed. Read more
Published 6 months ago by robwat
A pleasant discovery ....
Like most reviews here, my interest was brought about by the the 'Shadow Line' TV theme .... but me and the wife never got beyond episode two! Read more
Published 8 months ago by Packer
Thought I'd love it
I got this because of the theme tune to Luther on BBC1 - I if'd and butted because I'd only heard the one track. I must admit I didn't really like the rest of the CD.
Published 9 months ago by Me
Emily Barker & Red Clay Halo
Knew nothing about Emily & red Clay. Just googled looking for theme music for Shadow Line (Brilliant!)Well chuffed with outcome and have bought another album already!
Published 10 months ago by Mr. S. Vernon
Emily Barker & red clay halo
Bought it principally for the "Shadow Line " theme which is haunting,the rest is ok but not really "in car" listening
Published 10 months ago by Mrs. E. Dobbins
what was that music?
I was watching a drama series on BBC2 called "Shadow Line" and the theme music was so haunting I had to find out what it was. Read more
Published 10 months ago by barryt
Great discovery
Having never heard of Emily Barker before hearing her music on the introduction to the shadow line recently shown on BBC 1 I was taking a risk when I purchased this CD. Read more
Published 10 months ago by Y. Campbell
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