Fara
Energy Islands
Fara Music
2022
Energy Islands is a brave, wildly original almost-concept album from one of the finest folk bands in Scotland. Fara are from the Orkney’s, where they developed their distinctive, increasingly versatile and sophisticated style, matching the three fiddles and vocals of Jeana Leslie, Catriona Price and Kristan Harvey against piano (with occasional added harmonium from Leslie). The line-up now features a new pianist Rory Matheson, who is from the Highlands and plays a key role in this intriguing set. His keyboard work interacts perfectly with the fiddles, often providing a solid rhythmic anchor against which the three ladies can launch their inter-twining solos while also adding thoughtful backing for the vocals.
The music is gloriously varied, with the quartet moving constantly between sets of tunes, with every band member involved in the composition, and songs that, as in the past, include settings for writings by islanders whom the band admire. So why is it an almost-concept album? The music is inspired not just by the beauty of the islands and its wind, waters and weather but by the extraordinary way in which the environment has been used to create green energy. By using water and wind power, in an energy revolution supported by the local people, Orkney now produces more than 100% of its energy needs and is now faced with something of a unique dilemma – what to do with that surplus energy? It’s a triumph that deserves a celebration, and much of the album sets out to do just that, with tracks titled Excess Energy, White Horse Power or (and they must have enjoyed naming this one) West Tide Story.
There are twelve tracks here, with eight sets of tunes or instrumental pieces and four songs, and they kick off, of course, by demonstrating that remarkable interplay of fiddle skills and piano. The opening Solar consists of three tunes, written by Rory, Jeana and Harvey, with Catriona providing the string arrangements, as often in the set. It’s a lively confident piece featuring both plucked and bowed fiddles and sturdy piano lines and is followed by Wind Dancers, which starts as a fine, gentle melody before exploding into a rousing inter-play of keyboards and fiddles. While many of the tracks celebrate the way that the power of the sea can be harnessed for the good, there are also reminders that the sea can also bring danger and death. The Hampshire was written by Kristan to mark the sinking of HMS Hampshire, which struck a mine after leaving Orkney’s naval base at Scapa Flow in 1916, and it’s a poignant lament with fine interplay between piano and fiddle.
The first of the songs, Fair Winds, was written by Jeana who handles lead vocals (as on all the songs) and tells the story of a colourful Orkney resident from the 19th century. Bessie Miller was known as a ‘weather witch’ and made her selling ‘favourable winds’ to sailors for sixpence a time. Elsewhere, Merry Dancers is a haunting song about the Northern Lights, adapted from a poem by Lucy Douglas, while the evocative Song In The Night and Northerner are also based on poems by Orkney writers Duncan J Robertson and Margaret Tait. Both are concerned with light and dark, a reminder that these northern isles have long summer days but long winter nights.
Fara end with a couple of glorious instrumentals based on the green energy theme, with the final title track showing their skills as arrangers. It begins with plucked fiddle and piano and ebbs and flows like the wind or the tides as it builds to a gently triumphant finale. Exquisite.
Energy Islands Album Preview:
Energy Island is set for release on 26th August 2022
Pre-Order here (CD/Download): https://faramusic.co.uk/product/energy-islands/
Fara Tour Dates
SAT, SEP 10 – LOCHWINNOCH GOLF CLUB, LOCHWINNOCH
SAT, OCT 01 – WEMSFEST, CHIDHAM
WED, OCT 05 – MUSIC ROOM, LIVERPOOL
THU, OCT 06 – THE MET, BURY
FRI, OCT 07 – LOW PARKS MUSEUM, HAMILTON
THU, OCT 20 – EDEN COURT, ONETOUCH THEATRE, INVERNESS
FRI, OCT 21 – THE TOLBOOTH, STIRLING
More info and ticket links: https://faramusic.co.uk/gigs/