Siren Serenade is the title track taken from the debut album release from fast-rising star on the folk scene Emily Mae Winters (reviewed here). Winters has that rare quality in a singer that makes critics reach for the superlatives. Described as having a voice that “stops you in your tracks” and “arresting, enthralling, tantalising” by Folk Radio UK, Emily combines straight-to-the-heart bittersweetness with her own unique passion and drama in performance.
The track features the combined a capella vocals of Winters, Lauren Bush, Hannah Sanders and Lauren Parker. Winters wrote the track about the mythical sirens of the sea who are infamous in literature for their enchanting singing voices which lead sailors to their death. Winters says that after being unceremoniously dumped, she somehow found herself sat alone by the desolate Lake Balaton in Hungary thinking about the sirens of the sea. She began to imagine what the backstory to this might be and what might have happened to these creatures to make them take such a path.
This video produced by Rob Bridge (Redwood Photography) and features the talents of blacksmith Chris the Smith (www.christhesmith.co.uk).
Emily Mae Winters’ exquisite songs are frequently informed by her feelings of rootlessness, wherein people, not nationality, create a sense of belonging. The traditional songs she seeks out to sing also reflect this idea of a placeless identity, taking in folk music from Britain, Ireland and America.
Siren Serenade was produced by Ben Walker of BBC Folk Award winning Josienne Clarke and Ben Walker fame and Lauren Deakin Davies. It was released in April this year to critical acclaim and hosts a combination of self- penned and traditional folk songs and features musicians including Ben Walker (Josienne Clarke and Ben Walker- guitar/mandolin), Evan Carson (Sam Kelly and the Lost Boys- Drums), Lukas Drinkwater (double bass), Hannah Sanders (backing vocals) and Ben Savage (dobro). Her first headline tour of the year led to invites to play to her largest audiences yet including Cambridge Folk Festival and Moseley Folk Festival among others. Winters embarked on her second headline tour of the year this October, playing some sell-out shows with a band featuring John Parker (double bass) and Virginia Mahieu/Ciaran Algar (fiddle).
For more details and upcoming tour dates visit: www.emilymaewinters.com
Photo Credit: Rob Bridge (Redwood Photos)