Inti Rowland’s debut album ‘17th Century Japanese Aviary’ is due out April 13th 2015. The album was recorded over six days in a converted chapel in the Scottish highlands whose acoustics are truly beautiful as can be clearly heard on Masks of Winter which we have the pleasure of premiering on FRUK today.
Masks of Winter will draw you back to listen again and again. After a brief intro the melody changes with string quartet and looping guitar taking to the fore working their magic in creating a dappled warmth, strong imagery which contrasts well against the environment the album was recorded in:
‘The Scottish summer had a hint of warmth and the days were long and bright. Light would stream into our recording studio through the long church windows and daylight would persist until gone eleven at night, helping with the long hours.’
The looping guitar rises and subsides under the gentle current of the quartet’s strings. The arrangements are some of the loveliest I’ve heard this year. It has a rich organic feel whist maintaining a deceivingly simple feel, something which is heightened by the prose-like spontaneity of lyrics “Bring the linen in from the rain…” and the glorious choral finale. It has the hallmarks of those early pioneers of the quiet revolution – Nick Drake, Vashti Bunyan, whilst Inti brings his own unique modern twist which is both contemporarily refreshing and uplifting. A name to watch for? Most certainly!
Debut LP ‘17th Century Japanese Aviary’Out April 13th 2015
Order it here: intirowland.bandcamp.com/album/17th-century-japanese-aviary