Something we are very excited about is the forthcoming release of the fourth studio album, Dear River, from Emily Barker And The Red Clay Halo, officially announced today and due on July 8th. Marking another crucial step in Emily’s career and following the success of three self-funded releases, the album will be released by Linn Records.
Linn of course have a reputation for high quality audio and are perhaps more usually associated with classical and jazz. This represents a move towards the mainstream unparalleled since the release of The Blue Nile’s Walk Across The Roof Tops.
Under Linn’s guiding hand and with, appropriately enough the Blue Nile’s Calum Malcolm producing, the album moves Emily’s signature sound on to new heights. We were fortunate enough to witness the new songs being premiered and brought you a review of that show from the Bedford in Balham back in March (read it here).
UK based but hailing from Bridgetown, Western Australia, Emily has a personal grasp of the significance and meaning of home and its related tangents of exile, displacement, and family. She is a skilled songwriter with a gift for merging her own story with empathy for others’ experiences of travel and emigration. The result promises a compelling song cycle with Emily’s agile voice beautifully supported, as always, by the skills of The Red Clay Halo.
With a tour also in the pipe lines Emily will also feature on BBC Radio 2 Day on May 10th playing a specially arranged version of Nostalgia, her award winning theme songs for Kenneth Branagh’s Wallander TV series during Jeremy Vines show at around 1.00pm. Emily is also being interview by Dermot O’Leary.
Emily And The Red Clay Halo are scheduled to play the 2000 Trees festival on July 12th. It’s curated by Frank Turner, who she shared a stage with at the Olympic opening ceremony. In addition Emily And The Red Clay Halo have been added to the bill for the Cambridge Folk Festival on July 26th .
We will bring you more news about Emily’s release as it develops.
A taste of what’s to come
Here’s a video of Emily and the band rehearsing in preparation for their Union Chapel show last November. The song is called ‘Ghost Narrative’.