Devon-based contemporary folk duo Harbottle & Jonas are to release their new single The Beacon, on 20th November 2020 (available from all digital outlets). Written and recorded at home, the track also features collaborator Annie Baylis, no stranger to these pages, on violin and backing vocals.
The Beacon is also the title track to Harbottle & Jonas’s forthcoming album, which is due for release in Spring 2021, and will be available to pre-order in conjunction with the single release.
The Beacon itself refers to Ugborough Beacon, an ancient site that looms over South Brent, the Dartmoor village that David Harbottle and Freya Jonas call home. The home to which they hurriedly returned from a cancelled tour of Germany, rushing to make it back to Devon before the UK entered lockdown in mid-March.
During the weeks that followed, the duo escaped the monotony by walking the moors with their dog, Murphy, connecting with their fanbase via streamed concerts and their ‘Saving the Good Stuff’ Facebook video series (with 300,000 views and counting). After eighteen months of touring with 2019’s album, ‘The Sea is my Brother’ (reviewed here) the enforced period of calm was, in their own words: “a journey of discovery, that has taught us the importance of love, compassion and empathy, whilst discovering the needs and delights of our inner creature”
Watch the accompanying video below, filmed by Jake Cauty on location at Aish Common, Oli’s field just outside of Totnes. The track was produced by Josh Best-Shaw and mastered by Nathanael Graham.
The new album, their fifth, (to be released in Spring 2021) is a collection of songs that seeks to bring comfort, and questions what fire of intention we will light so that our future paths might be more steadfast, clear and community-spirited.
‘The Beacon’ (single) is the first spark to fly from this album of hope and new beginnings. Much like the beacons of old that served as a warning with flaming fires, Harbottle & Jonas hope that their new collection of songs written during this period in our history will encourage us to reflect, adapt and sing together once more. The Beacon (single) will be available from all digital outlets from November 20th 2020 and also via Amazon
The Beacon (album) will be released on March 26th 2021
https://www.harbottleandjonas.com/