There is a very clean and precise nature to this first collaboration between English avant-garde folk musician Seamus Cater and Norwegian guitarist, improviser and composer Fredrik Rasten. For Strange the Grass Grows, the duo chose three English and Scottish traditional ballads and added them to three original songs written by Seamus. With both musicians having experience in minimalism and microtonal playing, the character of the music is highly considered, featuring super-subtle shifts in notes. Just listen to the careful movement of the concertina on Beowulf’s Arm, with each delicate change adjusting the mood of the piece.
Strangely, though, the first band that came to mind while listening to the opening song, The Podhajce Goat, was Lankum, particularly their epic The Sea Captain, with its drone notes and slowly progressing vocals. Seamus and Fredrik’s music is lighter, without question, but their ability to minimally adorn their music to allow the song to breathe and the vocals to shine is as expertly done as the Irish supergroup. The song is beautiful, with both voices effective in their telling of the titular goat, inspired by Olga Tokarczuk’s epic novel The Books of Jacob.
This impeccable balance between music and vocals is present throughout the album, bringing real cohesion. Lord Lankin is as good an example as any, with a simple acoustic guitar melody (with some very subtle hammer-ons) and concertina framing dual vocals (with a hint of Simon and Garfunkel in places) reciting a traditional ballad. The instrumental interludes throughout this one are particularly pleasurable, bringing freshness to the arrangement. And with none of these six tracks coming in under six minutes, there is plenty of time to allow the players room to draw out the wonderful songs.
Slightly more unusual is Seamus’s For the Ear that is No More, which sees some slide work on the guitar, plus softly rattling cymbals and bass harmonica. It makes for a quite dreamy sound around an elegiac song performed slowly to allow each strange little brush stroke its own space.
This slow pace continues into the final piece, Death and the Lady, a traditional Roud ballad that brings Torstein Lavik Larsen’s trumpet into the mix to add body to Fredrik’s sombre pitch pipe. The minimal guitar part serves as a balm for the lower instruments here, bringing light and hope to the sound. As with every song on this quite remarkable album, it is all done with such grace and elegance, without a note wasted or any required. Wonderful.
I’m very much a fan of this set and the musical decision-making present throughout. Many artists would have been tempted to add to the space in the sound, further embellishing the songs. Seamus and Fredrik have not done this; instead, they have allowed their intuition and experience to shine through. The result is a faultless and deeply considered album of songs performed with confidence and modest prowess. This is one you’ll find yourself returning to again and again.
Strange the Grass Grows (February 9th, 2026) Anecdotal Records ANEC04