The Old Fabled River is the latest album collaboration between Alasdair Roberts and the Norwegian group Völvur, to be released on Drag City on 23 July. The label describes the offering as a meeting of minds and cultures well-suited to Alasdair Roberts’ syncretistic nature, The Old Fabled River melds Celtic and Scandinavian intuitions of culture and music.
The collaboration came about following an invitation to Alasdair from Norwegian fiddler Hans Kjorstad. Alasdair travelled to Oslo, Norway, where the two men convened with five additional Scandinavian musicians at Riksscenen, Oslo’s centre for Norwegian traditional arts and music. The group was named Völvur (The Seeresses), a reference to the ancient Icelandic apocalyptic text Völuspa (The Prophecy of the Seeress).
Hans Kjorstad has featured previously on Folk Radio with the review of Pusinshi Ulla, an album he made with his brother Rasmus. In his review, Thomas Blake noted that although both play the fiddle in the traditional style of their country, the album was more about experimentation and exploration of a genre’s boundaries than about acquiescence to old forms… ideal ground for a collaboration like this then.
We are spoiled by two versions of a new album track on offer today – Drag City have shared a solo rendition by Alasdair of “Orison of Union” which notes love’s human frailty, drawing strength from the powerful symbols in nature around us. You can watch the accompanying video below.
For those wondering what the album version sounds like with Völvur, it’s described as sweet, with a spry strut, verging into a march at the chorus, as guitar, reeds and fiddle play the tune’s head, giving way to an intimate union of folk ancestry. It’s available to stream now and is also our Song of the Day.
Pre-Order/Save: https://ffm.to/oldfabledriver
Alasdair Roberts Live Dates: http://www.alasdairroberts.com/live/