Following his debut folk album last year Ballads and Yarns (reviewed here), Roly Witherow releases a brand new single ‘The Bird and the Frog’ the first from a forthcoming new album. ‘The Bird and The Frog’ (out on 29 January 2021), a self-composed song described as a fable-esque love story, sees Roly continuing to draw on folk traditions. The music video, directed by fine artist, Beatrice Vorster, is assembled from fragments of archival educational footage depicting the microbiological life of frogs and birds before they come into their own. The track has a lovely 70’s pastoral psych-folk vibe going on with the video’s vibrantly cast images and the song’s lyrics lending to that vision in places: “…and on the weekend, you’ll go to the park, some place with a fire and a Persian rug…”. It’s reminiscent of Nick Drake and the like of Bert Jansch, a good thing in our book; a very tempting lead single for what’s to come later this year (read more below).
Roly Witherow: “The Bird and the Frog is a fable-esque love story, centred on the taming of a Bird by the Frog. The Frog seduces the bird, convincing her to give up her wild and free existence to live with him under a log. They live a peaceful yet humdrum life in the frog’s world and whilst the Frog is contented to have tamed the object of his love, the Bird is left with the sensation that something might be missing. I had in mind thoughts of suburban lifestyles – perhaps the home counties – and our adoption of a highly compartmentalised society, as well as being a tale of young love.”
Speaking on the forthcoming album, set to be released in Winter 2021, Roly added:
“This new album is a very new direction for me. If my first album, ‘Ballads and Yarns’ had an experimental bent, stemming from my experience as a film composer and combining traditional songs with electric instrumentation, spoken word and elements of world music, this new album has a “back to basics” approach, focusing on the song itself in its most minimal form. The vast majority of the songs are for just acoustic guitar and voice, and the recordings have a very live feel to them, realised in large part by the deft production of Joe Garcia of Joe’s Garage recording studio in Bristol where I recently relocated with my wife and young son during the pandemic.
“The album will be a combination of traditional songs from the British Isles and further afield, and originals, such as this first single ‘The Bird and the Frog’. There are also some collaborations on the album, including with renowned folk singer Nick Hart.”
The Bird and the Frog single is out on 29 January 2021.
https://www.rolywitherowmusic.com/