Considering how deeply Winterfylleth have mined English folklore over the course of one decade and five full-length albums, perhaps the biggest question you need to ask about the idea of them releasing a fully acoustic album is why didn’t it happen sooner?
Due to be released on April 6 via Candlelight/Spinefarm Records, new album, The Hallowing Of Heirdom isn’t entirely unprecedented, in that it follows on from the three, traditional tracks they recorded for 2014’s One And All, Together, For Home compilation alongside the likes of Drudkh and Primordial, Here, however, there’s an emotional resonance that’s enriched by the scope that 12 tracks allows, the band’s invocations of folklore, pastoral poetry, riddles, rhymes and odes, as well as early British customs and practices, both providing an potent tapestry in its own right and providing a channel for a continuum only the most unclouded of temperaments can hope to access.
The band are due to head out on tour, including two special acoustic shows at very special sites in Manchester and London (scroll down for dates), but in the meantime we have an exclusive preview in the form of a lyric video for the track Elder Mother, relating the folkloric tale of a guardian of elder trees - a parable for conservation that feels just as pertinent in our often careless modern age.
“The premise of the album being solely acoustic this time around,” says frontman Chris Naughton, “really gave us the chance to explore our ability as songwriters in a very different way than we are used to. Throughout the writing process we found out that we could conjure the same mental imagery, emotions and feelings in the music as we always have done, but without the need for distorted guitars and harsh vocals. We’ve poured very carefully over every inch of this album to make sure that it could stand up to anything else in our discography, because we knew we were taking a step outside of our comfort zone in doing an album like this. It turns out that in doing so we pushed each other into new areas of playing, dug deep and found out what we were truly made of as writers and performers. To me, that risk has in turn, really added new life and energy into tones and concepts we could cover on the album and I feel like the results speak for themselves. Hopefully, by doing this album it will give our fans something they maybe didn’t realise they were waiting for from us, but something that makes sense to them among our other albums, that they will love just as much as anything else we’ve done in our career. We’re keen to see what you think!”
So lie back, think of England, and lose yourself to the pastoral marvel that is Elder Mother below!
Check out Winterfylleth’s Facebook page here
And Winterfylleth’s live dates below!
Mar 3 - The Junction - Plymouth, UK
Apr 6 - Chethams Library - Manchester, UK (acoustic, release show)
Apr 13 - St Pancras Old Church - London, UK (acoustic, release show)
May 04 - Desertfest - London, UK
May 18 - The Loft - Nottingham, UK
May 26 - Redemption Fest - Dublin, UK
