Earlier this year, Folk Radio curated the Cellarful of Folkadelia stage at Sidmouth Folk Festival. Among those performing was Elspeth Anne, who has been writing and recording as an artist since 2005. In his review of the festival, David Weir said, “For all the bleak balladry we hear, hers feels the most distinctly uneasy. What’s more, the honesty in her stage presence, patter and lyrics is refreshing. Behind that minor key quiver sits an inspiring fearlessness.” He later adds, “It’s clear why Lankum’s Ian Lynch has endorsed her on his Fire Draw Near podcast, the drone of her shruti box and her raw, twisted take on traditional music making her an exciting outlier within the genre.”
Steeped in the rich imagery of the witch trials, Elspeth’s new single, Mercy Me, drops this Friday, 30th September. Accompanied by shruti box, she once again delivers a transportive offering that is also our Song of the Day.
Mercy Me is also the title track of her new album, which will be available to pre-order from 7th October via Bandcamp and is set for release on 25th November.
Elspeth comments on the song and video:
A discordant and menacing track composed on a drone of transposed shruti box. The song uses the imagery of witch trials – enforced drowning, burning, hanging – to convey the same sentiment: a feeling of being manipulated, controlled and wrongly blamed. The lyrics display an anger at being made a scapegoat for another’s sins. The parting line of “no one is looking for me” is a declaration of freedom rather than sadness.
For the video, I wanted something simple and more of a complimentary visual than a narrative film. The slow pace fits the drone and the glitchy-ness adds to the ominous quality of the song.
The rowan tree and berries are well-known in British folklore as protection against evil and are a common around the Welsh Borders area I live in. it was filmed in the Grwyne Fawr Valley in the Black Mountains.
video by KIDMILK & Elspeth Anne.
https://elspethanne.bandcamp.com/