Rant – The Portage
Make Believe Records – 1 November 2019
Something of a low key Scottish string playing super-group, Rant‘s members, Bethany Reid, Jenna Reid, Lauren MacColl and Anna Massie, are considered four of the finest fiddle players in Scotland and The Portage is their third album after they joined forces to release an eponymous debut in 2013. This album was recorded on the quick, with the sessions in the Mackintosh Queen’s Cross church taking place across just four days in January of this year. In many ways, the creation of this album reminds me somewhat of the latest Leveret one, in that the band members hunkered down for a short period of time to produce something quite spellbinding in its complexity, simplicity and virtuosity. What I also immediately loved about The Portage was reading its modest and minimal track notes, like on opener ‘Crow Road Croft’: ‘One for all the flats Jenna turned into wee highland crofts during her time living in Glasgow’. There is something decidedly unassuming about this band that makes the music itself, rich in musicianship, composition and subtleties, all the more impressive.
The above opener, coupled with another original tune ‘Göran Berg’s’, begins the album with quick high violin notes before an equally chirpy melody line sweeps in across it. ‘Göran’ is a tune of gratitude and this comes across immediately in the joyfulness of the playing; big bold notes across the bow sing out from each fiddle until the mid-point when the tune shifts seamlessly into ‘Crow Road’, where the tempo drops slightly and the slower notes briefly let the barest hint of melancholy into the piece. At this point, the music becomes even more striking, as the four instruments play the melody in unison before one peels off once more to trace the line alone. It is beautifully performed and the statement from the off is clear, as the four musicians drop not a single note that I could hear on a clear recording that would expose any mistakes.
I absolutely love the sound of a viola, so the two tracks where Lauren trades her fiddle for the lower keyed instrument immediately draw me in. If anything, ‘Sir Ronald McDonald’s Reel / Johnny D’s’, an Anglo-American splice from eighteenth-century and contemporary sources respectively, following on from the opening piece, are even more alluring. The tune is slower and more mournful and the plucked strings behind the solo bowed instrument create a simple harmony; this is indeed a piece of music that, after the immediacy of the first, takes its time and draws the listener in gradually with some spectral playing and lower notes, which add texture to the sound, especially when that wonderful viola jumps to the fore halfway in. The power of the viola coupled with the fiddles is gorgeous to hear and the playing and recording is again perfect; you can just about hear the burr of the bow on the strings, which transports you to Mackintosh Queen’s Cross. The second piece to include the viola alongside the fiddles is a far slower and more subdued affair; ‘Nach truagh mo Chàs (Hard is my Fate)’ is a nineteenth-century tune sourced from Simon Fraser’s collection of music from the Highlands of Scotland and its isles and as well as being the longest here, it is also the most heart-breaking and beautiful. The slowly played tune is one of yearning and is full of space and patience and again the addition of the viola, wisely saved for the slower and deeper moments on the album, brings the depth and strength to amplify the beauty of the composition. It is a quite magical piece.
And there are many more such examples of the high level of playing from this quartet and their sixteen strings, not least ‘Now Westlin Winds’, an eighteenth-century song written by Robert Burns and here arranged to the tune used by Dick Gaughin. A love letter to nature, this rich and gorgeous track is appropriately autumnal in its slow pace and leads on perfectly to ‘Annie Allan / Hambo’, which begins as a far more tightly grained hornpipe dance piece, with a generous and infectious melody that can’t fail to evoke a smile. The Swedish half of the piece is as joyous as its companion and even more playful, with plucked and strummed high strings bringing in a real sense of fun. Another dance tune, later on, that is equally immaculately played and seductive is ‘Altfechan’, one of melodeon player Andy Cutting’s works from his album with accordionist Karen Tweed. This is a brief one with another beautiful refrain that translates perfectly to violin music.
The final song on The Portage is the title track, a tribute to the narrow piece of land on the Isle of Shetland that Bethany and Jenna grew up in and it is a tune of innocence and wonder, with a melody that gently soars about the heads of the other fiddles. In a way reminiscent of Rob Harbron’s ‘January Blackbird’ that concludes his Meanders album, ‘The Portage’ is a natural-sounding piece that feels like it was harmoniously composed outside. It is an unambiguously gentle end to an album that, like Meanders, uses a minimal amount of tools to create a range of sonic emotions across its modest run time and the final track is a clear and fresh tune that is an optimistic and fitting end to this remarkable collection.
With insightful liner notes, beautifully packaged with a perfectly apt painting from Ruth Brownlee gracing its cover, The Portage is more than wonderful music played by masters of their instrument; it is a recording that seems to have finely judged every aspect of its creation and the result is something truly special. At points haunting, at others carefree and light, this is powerful and evocative music that is invigorating, bewitching and beautiful.
The Portage is out now. Order via Bandcamp | Amazon
Photo Credit: Sean Purser