The Cambridge-based post-folk collective Fuzzy Lights return after an eight-year hiatus with the announcement of their new album Burials (2nd July – Meadows). It’s harkened forth by their exquisitely intense opener and single Maiden’s Call.
While their folk bedrock of Fairport, Comus and Trees can be heard, there is a deeper more spontaneous edge to this music which lends it a greater immediacy and intensity that can be heard on lead single Maiden’s Call below. It builds into a dramatic cathartic fuzz jam that’s more in the territory of Dirty Three meets Kikagaku Moyo/幾何学模様 and the drone-worshipping blissed-out territory of Godspeed You! Black Emperor. That intensity is heightened still further in the video for Maiden’s Call directed by Xavier Watkins.
This is music to savour, a tremulous taster from an album that’s sure to delight on many levels – most striking being the lyrical intimacy offered by Rachel Watkins who translates her raw experiences into song with unforgettable sublime vocals. Maiden’s Call is a powerful opening statement for an album.
She tells us:
“Maiden’s Call is a song about loss. It was written shortly after I had a miscarriage and documents the time where you are attempting to come to terms with that loss. It also reflects upon the feeling of connection I found to the many women who have lived these moments in their own lives and the gratitude I felt for that relationship.”
And with the video:
“With this video, we wanted to represent the theme of the song in a way that was not too overt, mixing together elements of ritual and tradition that are echoed in the lyrics. Here we are imagining a transition from childhood to adulthood that is tied to the earth, with the use of chalk face paint and the deer’s antlers emphasising this connection. We had the extra challenge of creating a video during lockdown, so this became a family effort with our son happy to play a starring role.”
The album is described as: music that tears us away from the everyday, not just as a form of escapism, but as a means of self-reflection on hardship and the strategies we develop to overcome it. It is the band’s rawest yet most accomplished statement to date.
After hearing this, how can you not agree?
Fuzzy Lights are:
Rachel Watkins – violin & vocals
Xavier Watkins – guitar & electronics
Chris Rogers – guitar
Daniel Carney – bass
Mark Blay – drums
Pre-Order Burials: https://fuzzylights.bandcamp.com/album/burials
Photo credit: Jamie Cameron