In June, we shared the news that UK based singer-songwriter, and Folk Radio favourite, Emily Barker had signed to Thirty Tigers. The announcement was accompanied by her new single ‘Return Me’ following which it was revealed that her new album, ‘A Dark Murmuration of Words’, would be released on 4th September.
Taken from her new album, we have the pleasure of sharing the video for her beautifully biting new track, ‘Where Have The Sparrows Gone?’. The track as well as ‘The Woman Who Planted Trees’ are also available as a single bundle here.
The reflective song looks outside an apartment window and imagines a post-apocalyptic, birdless London; sensitively directed by Tom Jacob, the video focuses on a family’s search for closure as a powerful metaphor for the loss of species and destruction of natural environments.
“Over the last few decades the Sparrow has gone from being one of the world’s most common and widespread birds to being Red Listed as a species of high conservation concern,” Emily reflects. “When writing the song, my thoughts returned to the sparrows outside my window – how sad it would be to look out and not see and hear their vibrant movement and chatter. I hope that day never comes.”
Of the video she adds:
“The lyrics for ‘Where Have The Sparrows Gone?’ tell the post apocalyptic tale of a mother and child fleeing a devastated London to find a safer place to be. Rather than trying to portray the whole story in a short video, we decided to focus in on one verse: “Ashes in my pocket / I’ll scatter them when we stop / He loved to be by water / Down where the waves bow and buck”, which tells a story within a story. We don’t know exactly what happened to the father, but we know he is no longer there. As they flee, the mother and child make a detour to the ocean to scatter his ashes’”
Produced by Greg Freeman (Portico Quartet, Peter Gabriel, Amy Winehouse) and recorded with an incredible band featuring Rob Pemberton (drums, percussion, synth, backing vocals), Lukas Drinkwater (bass, guitars, backing vocals), Pete Roe (guitars, keys, backing vocals), Misha Law and Emily Hall (strings), ‘A Dark Murmuration of Words’ searches for the invisible connections that shape a rapidly shifting modern world. Recorded at StudiOwz in Pembrokeshire, Wales, the album is a timely exploration of climate change, racism, sexism, and myths of economic progress through the lens of what it means to return “home.” Highlights include the nostalgic ‘Return Me’, the gloriously defiant ‘Machine’ and the effortless album closer ‘Sonogram’.
Emily’s last album ‘Sweet Kind of Blue’ was recorded at Sam Phillips Recording Service in Memphis with Grammy-winning producer Matt Ross-Spang (Jason Isbell, Margo Price). The success of the album and the globe-trotting tours to support it helped land Emily the accolade of UK Artist of the Year at the 2018 UK Americana Awards held at Hackney Empire in London.
While it’s been a while, since her last album, Emily has hardly been static, only last year she released an album with Marry Waterson – ‘A Window to Other Ways’. They got together after meeting on a songwriting workshop by the hugely talented Kathryn Williams…you can read our interview with Marry Waterson about that collaboration here.
Pre-order A Dark Murmuration of Words via Bandcamp | European Record Stores
Pre-Save here: https://orcd.co/adarkmurmurationofwords
Photo Credit: Emilie Sandy