Acclaimed folk singer and 2018 BBC Radio 2 Folk Awards nominee, Julie Fowlis, releases her latest video today to mark International Woman’s Day. Chosen as our Song of the Day, Go Your Way features on Julie’s latest album Alterum, which we reviewed here, and was composed by the influential English folk singer Annie Briggs who we were lucky enough to interview in 2016.
The video was recorded (by Craig Mackay, Pictii) in Loth Church, Highlands of Scotland, on a cold day in February. Built by in the infamous Duke of Sutherland in the early 1800’s who was responsible for the eviction of thousands of Highland people during the Highland Clearances, there were churches on that site for several hundred years previous. It is said to have originally been built on an intersection of lay lines and therefore a place of intense energy. It has an earlier dark history as Janet Horne, the last woman in Britain to be accused of witchcraft, was taken from an earlier church building on that site to her execution. It is said that her daughter (who was with her) managed to escape by shapeshifting into an animal.
As Julie Fowlis continues to develop her broad repertoire of Gaelic song, alterum succeeds in exploring connections with other languages, cultures and art forms that enrich her music even further. As the specially commissioned work of Highland photographer Craig Mackay that adorns the album demonstrates, the universal themes of transition, loss, spirituality resonate in any language, including music and art. Above all, though, alterum is, quite simply, an album of the most beautiful music. Neil McFadyen FRUK
Buy Alterum here http://smarturl.it/alterum