Bristol-based chamber folk quintet Hedera, featuring Lulu Austin, Maisie Brett, Tamsin Elliott, Beth Roberts and Isis Wolf-Light, have released the first offering from their long-awaited eponymous debut album (due for release February 2026, Cuculi Records). ‘Sterretjie’ is a buoyant original track accompanied by a video set against the sweeping ochre cliffs of the Jurassic Coast.
At the heart of ‘Sterretjie’ is a spirited melody by Maisie Brett, rising and falling with the fluid grace of wingbeats. The tune blooms from solo fiddle into a joyful, heady arrangement of accordion, clarinet, strings and double bass.
Brett explains: “I wrote this tune while I was living in a coastal town in South Africa, while working on my ecology PhD. I was sending tunes back and forth with Tamsin [Elliott] while I was away, and ‘Sterrejtie’ was the result of that exchange. I named the tune after the terns found along that coastline, which in Afrikaans translates directly to ‘little stars’.”
Hedera are currently running a crowdfunder campaign for the release of their debut album, with pre-orders open now for CD, digital and bespoke artwork prints. This is one worth getting behind, give it your support here: https://www.kickstarter.com/projects/hederadebutalbum/hederas-debut-album
The video was directed by Tamsin Elliott, filmed and edited by Jai Bellchambers at Worbarrow Bay, Dorset. Audio production by Rowan Elliott.
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