Darren Hayman has shortened his Long Parliament and returns with a new album of seventeenth century folk songs called Bugbears, which is due out on Fika Recordings in July.
Bugbears will be come encased in deluxe packaging and accompanied by a massive booklet of Darren’s notes, lyrics along with artwork by various artists; the 13 songs are illustrated by 13 artists, including Ant Harding of Hefner, Jonny Helm of The Wave Pictures, Pam Berry of Black Tambourine, Dan Wilson of Withered Hand, Robert Rotifer, Sarah Lippett of Fever Dream, Louise Clark, Joe Besford, James Paterson and Matthew Sawyer.
Following his critically acclaimed album The Violence, which concerned itself with the East Anglian witch trials during the English Civil Wars, Darren Hayman became fascinated with that period of English history. Not only did he release a follow-up EP Four Queens about songs about a quartet of English Queens (Elizabeth 1, Henrietta Maria, Lady Jane Gray and Eleanor Of Aquitaine), but he also embarked on a project unearthing folk songs of the seventeenth century and Stuart era.
Two of the songs he found appear on The Violence album: ‘When the King Enjoys His Own Again’ and ‘A Coffin for King Charles, A Crown for Cromwell and a Pit for the People’. He did not seek to achieve forensic detail when finding these songs but was keen to have a sense of the flavour of the music of the era. Whilst writing The Violence, he started to record and adapt some of the songs, which are collected here.
Bugbears can be considered an accompanying volume to The Violence. Although Darren did a fair amount of research (he includes a thanks to Malcolm Taylor and the library at Cecil Sharp House, and the English Folk Dance and Song Society) these are not meant to be definitive or historical readings of the songs. He has revised, edited and even rewritten in places.
Track Listing
1. Martin Said
2. Bugbears
3. Sir Thomas Fairfax March
4. Seven Months Married
5. Hey Then Up We Go
6. The Owl
7. The Contented
8. Impossibilities
9. Babylon Has Fallen
10. I Live Not Where I Love
11. Bold Astrolger
12. Old England Grown New
13. When The King Enjoys His Own Again
LIVE
Residency at The Vortex, 11 Gillett Square, London N16 8AZ, www.vortexjazz.co.uk, Doors 8pm, £10 Adv – wegottickets.co.uk
Darren Hayman will also be performing a series of monthly shows at The Vortex Club in Dalston. Each show will feature a mix of sets showcasing different albums, themes and special guests. This is not your standard indie gig: The first of Darren Hayman’s Occupation is centred around Witches & Bugbears on 11 July 2013 The Vortex. There will be two sets based around the Essex Witch Trials during the English Civil War. One set of songs from Darren’s acclaimed album “The Violence” and a second of English Civil War songs taken from its sister album “Bugbears” which is out on Fika Recordings 15/07/13.