THE RHEINGANS SISTERS - Bright Field
Rootbeat Records RBRCD39
In perfect harmony with Kathleen Neeley’s striking arboreal cover artwork, the Rheingans’ third album is bathed in natural imagery and the organic warmth of their voices and assorted (mainly stringed) instruments. At a gently elegant pace, the sisters further develop their considerable compositional clout with this selection of newly-composed material. Rowan’s extraordinary This Forest is an epic dream-poem which sees life on earth begin, evolve and then destruct; Green Unstopping envisages (and invites) the regreening of deserted habitations, and Edge Of The Field is a plea for country pathways and ocean views.
Self-produced at acclaimed musician Dylan Fowler’s Stiwdio Felin Fach, there is a certain Welsh lushness and wildness on the title track, a setting of an R.S. Thomas poem narrated by storyteller Dafydd Davies-Hughes. Yet the sisters’ music spans wider borders: Anna’s tune Glattugla captures a winter spent in Norway, while her adopted home in France is celebrated with a couple of French dances and the song, Appel. Like everything they do, this is music made with love, integrity and consummate craftsmanship.
www.rheinganssisters.co.uk
Clare Button
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Many CDs we review are available from The Listening Post. Check to see if this CD is available. The Listening Post is the CD mailorder service of The Living Tradition magazine. This album was reviewed in Issue 123 of The Living Tradition magazine. |