In January, we shared the news that Cambridge folk duo Hannah Sanders & Ben Savage had signed to the legendary Topic Records to release their eagerly awaited record, Ink of the Rosy Morning. We premiered their beautiful video for their first single, ‘A Winter’s Night‘, a Doc Watson number that they delivered in exquisite detail using their trademark engaging vocal harmonies and intricate acoustic guitar interplay. Today, they release the second single, ‘False True Love’, along with an accompanying video which we have the pleasure of sharing below.
This tender ballad recreates perfectly the intimate, honest sessions that, without intention, blossomed into the spellbinding body of work that we now know as Ink of the Rosy Morning. On the track, Hannah Sanders says, ”I’ve loved Ben [Savage]’s singing of this for years but could never find a place to be in the song. Such beautiful sentiment and lyrical imagery, neither hyperbolic nor saccharine, the best of Appalachian folk poetry.” Ben, himself uncertain of the origin of where he learnt the song, promises that “both Shirley Collins’ and Sara Grey’s renditions are well played in my record collection!”
Again, it’s their ability to paint a song in such vibrant colour and detail with stripped back instrumentation that makes this duo really shine.
Both Hannah and Ben’s musical ideals have been shaped by multiple styles and influences (from Hannah’s teenage years in a touring family band and a lengthy sojourn in America to Ben’s study of the dobro and successes playing with The Willows), exceptional songwriting skills and the array of instruments they can both turn their hands to. Yet way back, both had also been initially fired up by the music and culture of East Anglian folk clubs, and this was the music to which they instinctively gravitated. And thus, ‘Ink Of The Rosy Morning’ is a magnificently intimate and engaging successor to their previous albums ‘Before The Sun’ (2016) and ‘Awake’ (2018).
As previously mentioned, their new album was nearly a different beast entirely. Before the world changed in 2020, they had their third album almost ready to roll: finished tracks, guest artists and everything. Then the world changed. And so did their mindset. And with it, their music. “It was,” says Ben Savage hesitatingly, “liberating!”
Choosing instead to record in a quiet former schoolhouse by the sea in Hastings for a few days, they sat in the dining room, lit the fire, opened a bottle of wine, set up a few mics and played. Nothing pre-arranged. No grand scheme. No pre-production. No demos. No thought of releasing anything from it.
All of this makes what they emerged with, Ink Of The Rosy Morning, all the more extraordinary, and we’re looking forward to sharing more.
Ink Of The Rosy Morning is out April 1st on Topic Records.
Read more about their 2022 tour dates HERE.
Pre-save here: https://hannahandben.lnk.to/inkoftherosymorning