“Time and tide wait for no man”, so the saying goes. But ever since her EP, Tide & Time, came out in 2016, many have been waiting expectantly to hear Somerset singer songwriter Kitty Macfarlane’s debut album. On September 21 the wait will be over as this fine young acoustic artist unveils the beguiling release Namer Of Clouds.

Produced by fellow musicians Sam Kelly and Jacob Stoney and released on Navigator Records, this is a captivating 11-track album featuring no less than nine of Kitty’s original songs.

Her sharply observed narrative songs are pure poetry, rich with visual imagery and written with an eco-eye – woven loosely together into a theme of mankind’s relationship with the wild. Gathering inspiration from the sky to the seabed, Kitty’s lyrics touch on intervention and rewilding, climate change and migration and one singular song which is a magical aural tapestry of woman’s historical relationship with textiles and the land.

The album is augmented by all kinds of ‘found sound’ recorded in locations from Somerset to Sardinia – birdsong, waterfalls, the click of knitting needles- and is bookended by sounds of the wild.

Recorded partly at The Cube near Truro in Cornwall and partly at Get Real Audio in Bath, Namer Of Clouds features not just the clear, confident voice and finger-picked guitar of Macfarlane but also the in-demand Radio 2 Folk Awards ‘Horizon’ award winner Sam Kelly on guitar, mandolin and harmony vocals, with some of his talented Lost Boys band members also on the roll call –Graham Coe on cello, Archie Churchill-Moss on melodeon and Jamie Francis, surprisingly not on his trademark banjo, but on electric guitar.

Co-producer Jacob Stoney is on keys, bass, mandolin and vocals, Tom Moore is on violin and viola and Josh Clark, who mixed and mastered the release, provides percussion.

It was evident some years ago that Macfarlane was one to watch. Hailing from Milverton in Somerset she played her inspired songs at local folk clubs from a young age. But her music was heard by a much bigger audience when in 2010 BBC Radio 4 featured her engaging Bus Song on its popular Excess Baggage travel show.

Presented by Sandy Toksvig, the show had invited its audience to nominate their favourite bus routes and selected Kitty’s brilliantly observational song which told of her journey home from Taunton on the 25B bus!

Kitty wove her emerging music career in with her English and French degree studies at Warwick University and, in 2015, was a semi-finalist in the BBC Young Folk Award. More recently she has supported Kathryn Roberts & Sean Lakeman on tour, as well as Blair Dunlop.

Now the Bristol-based performer is coming into her own with some remarkably mature songwriting, a marked empathy with the environment and a strong sense of place. Cerebral and classy, honest and immediate, these are not throwaway lyrics or everyday melodies but thought-provoking and evocative compositions with wonderfully crafted soundscapes.

This is an album that flows in an almost filmic way. Its cover shows Kitty on the flooded Somerset Levels of her home county and it is here on the Avalon Marshes – one of the largest lowland wetlands in Britain – that the arresting ‘other worldly’ opening song is set. Starling Song marvels at the balletic, hypnotic starling murmurations above the reed beds in winter. Sparse and suspenseful it swoops, wheels and whirls like the avians as a stark prelude to the album.

Namer Of Clouds  is out on the 21 September and available to pre-order now:
   

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A massive congratulations to Sam Kelly & The Lost Boys who were announced as nominees for Best Group at this years BBC Radio 2 Folk Awards.

The boys released their latest album, Pretty Peggy, back in October last year to rave reviews and was described by Folk Radio as having “infectious rhythms, soul stirring vocal arrangements, masterful instrumentation and invention – it is easily one of the best albums to come from the ever growing world of youthful folk music”.

The Folk Awards take place in Belfast on April 4th, you can find out more details and how to book tickets on the BBC website here.

Pretty Peggy is available now from Propermusic, Amazon, Spotify, iTunes and all good music retailers.

Check out the new video from Blue Rose Code for the latest single ‘Ebb & Flow’. In describing the track Ross said “Above the entrance to the Scottish National Gallery Of Modern Art there is a neon sign that exclaims “Everything Is Going To Be Alright!”. The problem that I have with that is I wasted so long waiting for everything to be alright, waiting for something to happen but now, the truth as I see it is that everything is alright. A subtle but powerful difference. There is nothing wrong with right now, that’s what the song is about.”

Ebb & Flow is taken fro the new album The Water of Leith which is available now from Propermusic.com, Amazon, Spotify, iTunes, HMV and all good record shops.

Ahead of their UK tour this March, Sam Kelly & The Lost Boys have released a new video for the song ‘When The Reivers Call’ from their latest album Pretty Peggy.

The boys will also be performing at many festivals in the coming months, you can find all of the confirmed dates below with more to be announced soon.

Pretty Peggy is available now from Propermusic, Amazon, Spotify, iTunes and all good music retailers.

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Wow, the reception for Pretty Peggy, the new album from Sam Kelly & The Lost Boys has been exceptional with stunning reviews across the board. You can read some of the highlights below.

If you’ve not heard the new album yet, you can check out some the videos for Greenland Whale, Angeline the Baker and Chasing Shadows here. The album is available now on Propermusic.com, Amazon, Spotify, iTunes and you local record shop.

“If this album doesn’t pick up several Folk Award nominations there’s something seriously wrong – it’s as damn near perfect as you can get” – Mike Harding

“Amazing, thrilling music” – Mark Radcliffe, BBC Radios 2 & 6

“Folk hasn’t rocked this hard since Fairport’s heyday – this album thrillingly captures their live verve, muscle and electricity” – Morning Star

“If there’s a better folk album released in 2017 I look forward to hearing it” – Folk Monthly

“Eclectic, bold and intriguing – the darkly mystical Shining Ship teeters on Pink Floyd territory. Kelly’s a risk taker but a calculated one – he ticks so many boxes it’s hard to see how he couldn’t appeal to most people” – Colin Irwin, fRoots

“Sam Kelly & the Lost Boys are hot property. It’s difficult to think I will hear a better album this year” – Shire Folk Magazine

“There are some records that just make me very happy and this is one of them. There are fresh delights at every turn. Sam and his have made one of the albums of the year” ★★★★★ – RnR Magazine

“An excellent album. Dynamic, energetic folk rock – boldly modernised trad songs and originals” – Songlines

“Sam Kelly and the Lost Boys have produced one of the folk albums of the year. They breathe new life and vigour into traditional songs and add their own to create a perfect mix of folk with a modern edge” – Get Ready To Rock

“It’s clear from Pretty Peggy that Sam Kelly and his merry band seem set to challenge the paradigm that young music fans seeking to be cool would never be seen at the same gig as their parents. His is a talent set to shine brighter” ★★★★ – Spiral Earth

“He’s nurtured the band he always wanted and achieved goals he once considered unimaginable – and it feels like he’s only just getting started” – Folking.com

“Sam Kelly has unquestionably blazed a trail in the folk field and you get the feeling Pretty Peggy is another seed sown on a significant pathway . The notion of the tricky second album gets blown out of the water” – Louder Than War

“Proving that big party bands are no longer the exclusive domain of the Scottish and Irish music scenes , Pretty Peggy has infectious rhythms, soul stirring vocal arrangements, masterful instrumentation and invention – it is easily one of the best albums to come from the ever growing world of youthful folk music” – Folk Radio.co.uk

“Kelly stakes a claim for a Best Album nomination in next year’s Radio 2 Folk Awards” – Folking.com