LIVE (Photos): Folk In The Park, 19.08.2023

When you think of folk festivals, the Surrey town of Sutton isn’t necessarily what initially springs to mind… But Folk In The Park is looking to change that. Organised by local grassroots music venue The Sound Lounge (lead by musicians Hannah White and her partner Kieron Marshall), it’s a day of beautiful live music ranging from folk and blues – with tinges of jazz, rock and indie – with a family friendly focus and admirable sustainable ethos.

Arriving at the somewhat unlikely location of Manor Park in Sutton on Saturday morning, bright and early at 11am, I feel instantly at ease – greeted by sunshine, friendly faces and the twinkling tones of first artist of the day, Holly Henderson. With songs ranging from the gently empowering ‘Sunflower’ (“for all my ladies out there!”), to the lilting energy of ‘Wendy’ (a “dog love song”), Henderson’s rich, luscious vocals flow throughout with a sparkling uplifting charm. 

Following the dark humour and gravelly blues-strewn folk of Irish raconteur David Hope, local artist (“the last festival I played took me 4 hours to get to, but I walked here in 5 minutes!”) Hannah Scott takes to the stage. Having received acclaim from the likes of Dermot O’Leary on BBC Radio 2 and the likes of MOJO, as well as having her songs featured on medical drama Grey’s Anatomy, she delivers a stirring, emotion-rich set. Reflecting on themes ranging from the complications that come with ending a relationship (‘Untangling’), to the artistic need for pain and hardship in order to feel inspired (‘Hurricanes’), each song showcases the heartfelt grace of her crystalline vocals and accompanying resplendent melodies. 

After enjoying a little bop in the sunshine to Matt Owens & The Delusional Vanity Project, it’s time for Scottish artist Roseanne Reid. Despite being confined to a chair throughout the performance due to a mysterious toe-breaking incident, she succeeds in captivating me completely. With her blues-tinged Americana and a heartfelt raw emotion, she reflects on life’s complexities, singing of love for her child and wife, whilst oozing a blissful, stirring allure. Having recently released her gorgeous second album Lawside, and counting the legendary Steve Earle amongst her fans, Roseanne Reid is a new favourite for sure; a gifted songwriter capable of crafting truly exquisite creations with a relatable tenderness and honesty. 

With a slight shift in tempo, Sheffield’s Lauren Housley takes to the stage with her band The Northern Cowboys to treat us to a joyous blast of energy. Propelled by Housley’s rich, soulful vocals and an infectious funk-fuelled groove, they have the all-ages crowd dancing along in jubilant array to their spritely country-inspired anthems. 

As we continue to revel in the sunshine, enjoying the Lo-Cal pale ale and vegan hotdogs, it would seem that Hannah White is not only a fantastic festival organiser, but a wonderful musician too. Accompanied by her own ‘super group’, including husband Kieron Marshall and Geraint Watkins, she delivers each emotion-strewn offering with a soaring, glistening energy, as her beautifully honey-sweet vocals flow with a celestial splendour throughout.

Throughout the rest of the evening, the great music and lovely vibes continue; we shimmy along to the gritty blues-rock of Dana Gillespie as she regales awe-inspiring stories of her time in the music industry (“David (Bowie) wrote this one for me”) before feeling waves of comforting ‘90s nostalgia for Del Amitri’s uplifting set closing the festival.

A truly glorious day filled not only with the loveliest of music, but a wonderful sense of community. As people of all ages come together to enjoy a day in the sunshine in a local green space, it’s hard not to feel united both in our love of folk-inspired ditties and our common desire for positive change in the world. With its sustainable ethos and friendly, inclusive atmosphere adding to the brilliant line-up of musicians, Folk In the Park is just what we need right now; a blissful escape from the everyday worries of life. A little glistening beacon of hope at a time when things might seem rather bleak. 

So, thank you Folk In The Park – we’re looking forward to next year already!

Words: Mari Lane / @marimindles
Photos: Paul Dawes / @pauldawesart

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New Tracks: Lou Moon – ‘Driftwood’ / ‘Thunder’

‘Driftwood‘ is the perfect metaphor for a song that delicately floats along, conjuring up a warm summer’s evening by the ocean. It is one of two singles released by Welsh Bristol-based artist Lou Moon, taken from their upcoming debut EP Drifting I & II. 

‘Driftwood’ features a warm atmospheric guitar complemented by bright sparkling vocals that are brought to life with a touch of delay, whilst the piano chords sustained underneath give it further depth and body. The song is beautifully balanced and carefully delivered; you take in each word sung, bringing to mind the folky flavours of the likes of Laura Marling and This Is The Kit.

The earnest lyrics give a sense of freedom, as Moon explains: “It’s definitely comparable to the feeling of wanting to come out as queer all over again.” As someone who vividly remembers the weight of not “coming out” and the lightness of freedom following acceptance, this is a line that chimes with a stirring resonance.

Accompanying single, ‘Thunder‘, sounds more melancholic, based around rich strumming acoustic guitar. The similarly introspective lyrics about the vulnerabilities of relationships and using thunder as a metaphor for mental health are brought to life through lush vocal harmonies and fragile vocal delivery. The two songs perfectly complement each other. 

Moon describes the songs on the EP as “about relationships to the self, to others and to the natural world, as well as the fragility and intangibility of those things.” The songs were written and recorded over the last decade, with help from the musical friends and collaborators they found at university in London. They describe the project as an archival journey back into the experiences and emotions they’ve felt and the different people they’ve been over the last ten years. 

You can check out ‘Driftwood’ and ‘Thunder’ on Spotify, and keep your eyes peeled for the EP Drifting I & II, which is coming out later this year via Skivvy Records.

Ella Patenall
@ellapatenall

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LISTEN: Indigo Sparke – ‘Pressure In My Chest’

‘Pressure In My Chest‘ is the first track from Australian born/New York based Indigo Sparke’s upcoming album, Hysteria. Profound in its simplicity, the track sets the tone for an album that promises to explore rich emotional depths.

The song begins with soft vocals and guitars, with light touches of percussion shimmering in the background; a gentle track, slow paced with soft notes throughout. As more instruments are introduced, it doesn’t get louder or busier – instead, every line complements every other, so the music swells. It grows bolder as the song ramps up to its most intense point, echoing the sensation of the titular pressure.

The music feels almost minimalist, but only because the different instruments are working together so effectively. They provide a firm foundation for the vocals to dance over, carrying the impassioned feeling of the song; the lyrics float, adrift in the emotion that the song preserves. The lyrics themselves don’t give any direct details of the story that has brought us to this point, but they don’t need to. The sentimental metaphors in the verses, with vague allusions to ambitions and relationships, are universal enough that anyone can project their own personal context onto them.

Regardless of the experiences that cause it, the intensity of the feeling in the chorus is easy to connect to. The lyrics perfectly describe the way that emotions, when they’re powerful enough, feel like they’re manifesting physically and eclipse whatever else is around you in that moment. As a standalone song, ‘Pressure In My Chest’ captures and reflects that sensation. Of the track, Sparke explains:

“In the birth of memory, there is the eternal moment of time. All things exist here. Through night dreams and wishes, and hot tears and laughing stars, I carried myself to the desert to traverse the landscape of history and reconcile the ever present Pressure in my Chest.“

As a teaser for the new album, ‘Pressure In My Chest’ paves the way for a record that is heavy with emotion, beautifully capturing the essence of the most intense feelings people can experience.

Watch the new, Madeline Clayton-directed video for ‘Pressure In My Chest’ here:

Hysteria, the upcoming new album from Indigo Sparke, is set for release on 7th October via Sacred Bones.

Kirstie Summers
@actuallykurt

Photo Credit:  Angela Ricciardi

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Five Favourites: Jemima Coulter

Whilst you may know them from being one half of Hailaiker, or from their collaborations with the likes of Squirrel Flower and Novo Amor, Bristol-based artist Jemima Coulter has now released their debut solo album. Reflecting on themes such as unrequited love and chasing happiness – through both their own lived experiences and imagined situations – Grace After A Party is a beautifully poignant collection. Flowing with a shimmering, folk-strewn musicality, each track showcases Coulter’s raw, heartfelt vocals and ability to create stirring, emotion-rich dreamscapes with a swirling, immersive allure.

We think one of the best ways to get to know an artist is by asking what music inspires them. So, to celebrate the release of their debut album, we caught up with Jemima Coulter to ask about the music that has inspired them the most. See below for their choices of their five favourite albums, and be sure to treat your ears to Grace After A Party as soon as possible…

Sufjan Stevens – Carrie & Lowell
I drew a lot from this album while writing Grace, mostly in thinking about storytelling and the details in the lyrics that make it compelling. The stories told in this album combined with the nuanced melodies makes it feel so directed, so itself and also perfectly balanced – never too much going on. Each section in a song sits perfectly on its own and in context of other sections, each song on the album sitting perfectly on its own and also tied to the others. I think the use of space in this album is not something I’ve found anywhere else; I don’t know what they used for the reverb, but listening to it, it’s all really ‘verby, but in a way where it’s like this special Carrie & Lowell room that’s a specific kind of dark and echoey but doesn’t make everything sound floaty and washed, and also ties the closer sounding guitar with everything else. Maybe it’s just the best mix I’ve ever heard ha. I listened to Carrie & Lowell a lot when I was driving, around the age of 19-20 – the combination of night-driving and this music seemed to swirl into an endless road. I’ve always wanted to recreate that in an album – you put it on and you’re there, it’s like a physical space, each song a room in a house, and the same things are in the rooms each time you listen but you’re still picking each of them up and turning them over in your hands and each object conjures an emotion in you.

Camille – Le Fil
Someone showed me ‘Quand Je Marche’ one morning and it was in my head for literally years until I found it on this album. There was a period while I was working on Grace (I think autumn 2020) – I was missing someone and I couldn’t sleep and I walked the perimeter of Bristol a few nights for nearly four hours each time and I remember walking the side of a steep A-road listening to this. I think she does nearly everything with her mouth? It’s really minimalist, but it taught me about using drones and melody and kind of inspired me to keep exploring that idea that you often just hear in folk. It’s also totally the opposite of what I tend to do with production and I love how her melodies totally carry the whole album. It has loads of repeating melodic themes and moments, almost like ‘acts’ and interludes which makes it theatrical, but in a really good way… It’s just a wicked album. 

Sea Oleena – Weaving a Basket 
I just think this is the most beautiful music I’ve ever heard. It makes time stand still. No other words. 

John Martyn – Glorious Fool 
I was shown this album fairly recently, after being aware of a few John Martyn songs. The bass in his music takes me somewhere – I don’t think I’ve heard anything like it. Sometimes it’s like it’s just John and that fretless bass and everything else is just highlighting whatever they’re doing. His music makes me think about timing and atmosphere more than anyone else’s at the moment. He’s not doing anything particularly dense with his melodies or his words, it’s all very felt and is almost improvisational. It seems that the songs are really recordings in the sense that they don’t feel concerned with how they’d stand-up as live performance, and that’s something I find about this particular album and in his other ones, that them being crafted in the studio in darkness and in the atmosphere absolutely comes through. I was reading Phill Brown’s autobiography Are we Still Rolling? and it includes a bit about them recording John Martyn’s One World album – they had speakers across a lake and recorded parts the other side of the water to create a massive outdoor reverb. The combination of nature and technology fits with the crossovers I hear in John Martyn’s music; he was clearly so ahead and on the brink of mixing jazz, folk and electronic experimentation. ‘Small Hours’ from that album is the best night-time song. 

The Blue Nile – Hats
The thing I love about this album is that it feels like film music because it is so secured within timbre limitations and concept limitations. It’s like an ’80s rework of the Casablanca soundtrack or something. It sounds so ’80s/early ’90s it’s almost like a modern day pastiche of that period of pop. Again though – maybe a theme going on here -, there’s so much space and anticipation in these songs which I’ve found really liberating, like “yes, repeat that bit 8 times”. The whole thing is a massive argument against concision for me – like, fuck being concise; be indulgent, do a fade out. There’s three songs on that album over six minutes, and it’s an absolute pleasure to be inside them for the whole six minutes, I want to be able to do that more than anything, really.

Massive thanks to Jemima Coulter for sharing their Five Favourites with us!

Grace After A Party, the debut album from Jemima Coulter, is out now via Hand In Hive.

Photo Credit: Christina Russell

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