On March 31st, Alasdair Roberts releases his new album, Grief in the Kitchen and Mirth in the Hall. In his album review, Thomas Blake describes Roberts’ performance as ‘musically exquisite’ and his singing as ‘never sounding so emotionally charged’.
Among the traditional folk songs featured on the album is the well-known Jacobite song, The Bonny Moorhen, which is released as a single today. In his review, Blake notes that Roberts livens things up with ‘some brisk and natty guitar’ without losing any of its sense of longing and diffident pride. Alasdair originally heard this allegorical song from an anonymous recording made at the 1985 Orkney Folk Festival.
“The Bonny Moorhen” is a fond paean to a waterbird whose regal profile compares to none other than Bonnie Prince Charlie, the rebel Scottish king who dared stand up against the redcoats. Imperilled by events, the bird’s beauty only grows – a song of Scottish pride, played with processional grace and a wink of shared secrets.
A gorgeous stop frame animation accompanies the single, created by London-based illustrator, printmaker, animator, painter and teacher Jonathan Farr. I especially love Farr’s charcoal-on-paper illustrations that take on a life all of their own. His work has been featured in many exhibitions, and he’s also worked on animation videos for other Folk Radio favourites, including Mary Hampton (Gold Hat). Like his illustrations, his videos are fascinating and otherworldly and never restricted by the simplicity of the medium he uses, whether that be charcoal or salt, which he used for the video below.
In an Instagram comment about making the animation, Farr says, “I love how the process of stop frame animation can unlock the imagination. I think it’s the ephemeral moving on nature of making images means finding certain individual images can result in sudden surprises. A piece of music lasting 2 and a half minutes appears to open out into stretched space. I must have listened to Alasdair’s song perhaps even more times now than he has, and I’m not bored of it yet!”
Just as a homespun DIY ethic informs Roberts’ work, so does it inform Farr’s, making this video all the more unique and engaging.
Pre-Order Grief in the Kitchen and Mirth in the Hall – out on March 31st via Drag City.
TOUR DATES
March 23rd – Summerhall – Edinburgh, Scotland
March 24th – The Tangled Parrot – Carmarthen, Wales
March 25th – Bluestone Brewery – Cilgwyn, Newport, Wales
March 26th – Wardrobe Theatre – Bristol, England
March 28th – Sutton House – London, England
March 29th – Sutton House – London, England
March 31st – South Street Arts Centre – Reading, England
April 1st – The Blue Moon – Cambridge, England
April 4th – The Hug and Pint – Glasgow, Scotland
April 5th – Kitchen Garden Cafe – Birmingham, England
April 6th – Hyde Tavern – Winchester, England
April 7th – Florence Park Community Centre – Oxford, England
April 8th – Medina Bookshop – Cowes, Isle of Wight, England
Website: https://www.alasdairroberts.com