After winning ‘Best Album’ at the BBC Folk Awards in 2019 for their debut album Hide and Hair, The Trials of Cato‘s highly anticipated follow-up, Gog Magog, drops next week on 25th November (pre-order here). Last year, the band underwent a lineup change with Polly Bolton joining Robin Jones and Tomos Williams. Her stylish mastery of the mandolin, banjo and Irish bouzouki fits right in with the band’s power-folk vibe, which we witnessed firsthand on Bedlam Boys. Today we have another treat in store as they deliver their modern plague song, Ring of Roses, which finds the trio in top form.
Despite being crafted during the depths of lockdown, and the darkness that surrounded that period, above those haunting moments of the song, Polly Bolton delivers the lyrics with a slick pop-sensibility, which, couched in the simmering harmonic opening, gives the song a phoenix-like quality which, as you can see in the live cuts of the accompanying video, is an instant crowd pleaser… there are some gorgeous rifts throughout this number and a cosy little jam towards the finale that some may recognise as a great reel called Catharsis, written by Irish fiddler Amy Cann – it just wraps it up perfectly. Ring of Roses is released as a single tomorrow (18 November).
They shared the following on the song:
‘Ring of Roses was a track that we started working on in the depths of the first lockdown. The subject matter was definitely inspired by the events of those frightening and uncertain days when time seemed to pass in such a strange and surreal way. The isolation of the lockdown sometimes made days feel like years and at others they seemed to pass in the blink of an eye. In Ring of Roses we wanted to evoke that sense of a dreamlike, and at times nightmarish, moment in time.’ – Polly.
‘Seeing as the lyrics to the children’s nursery rhyme ‘Ring of Roses’ are often argued to preserve folk memories of the Black Death, we thought that they would make an appropriate hook for our modern day plague song. Ultimately it’s a song about loss – not only of loved ones, but also of the certainties of the world which the COVID pandemic seemed to bring to an end.’ – Robin.
‘During the lockdown we had plenty of time to experiment with the new textures and sounds which appear on Gog Magog. We pushed the boat out on Ring of Roses which features several electric guitar overdubs as well as sections of Polly’s vocal takes which are sampled over the instrumental outro.’ – Tomos.
Matt Coles produced the video.
Gog Magog is released on 25 November. The album finds the band exploring new sounds, reflected in a fusion of styles like their modern plague song above to neo-traditional interpretations of Welsh language poetry. The Trials of Cato are not a band to stand still, so it’s a real treat to find their instrumental explorations raking the outer edges of folktronica and trad-jazz.
The Trials of Cato are currently on tour showcasing the new album.
Pre-Order Gog Magog on CD here: https://www.thetrialsofcato.com/products/gog-magog-cd
Upcoming Live Dates
Nov 17 – Nottingham, The Bodega Social Club
Nov 18 – Manchester, Night & Day Café
Nov 19 – Wrexham, Ty Pawb
Nov 20 – Leeds, Brudenell Social Club
Nov 21 – Edinburgh, The Voodoo Rooms
Nov 22 – Newcastle Upon-Tyne, The Cluny
Dec 02 – Shoreham, Ropetackle Arts Centre
Dec 03 – South Petherton, The David Hall
Dec 09 – Cambridge Junction
Tickets and more details: https://www.thetrialsofcato.com/