Birdvox is a new four-piece comprising Sarah Hayes (vocals, synth, flute, drum programming), a founding member of Glasgow’s Admiral Fallow; Inge Thomson (vocals, accordion, field recordings, drum programming), a longtime collaborator with multi-award-winning songwriter and storyteller Karine Polwart; Jenny Sturgeon (vocals, guitars, keyboards, drum programming), a SAY-nominated solo artist and singer with alt-folk mainstays Salt House; and Charlotte Printer (vocals, bass, percussion, drum programming), who has previously performed with revived Scottish pop icons Altered Images and Loyle Carner-collaborator Joesef.
KLOF readers may recall that three of those names, Sturgeon, Thomson and Hayes, previously collaborated on Northern Flyway, the audio-visual project exploring birdsong, ecology and folklore that we premiered and reviewed back in 2018.
Their debut single King Orfeo is out now on all digital platforms, and we’re delighted to premiere the video. The band explain:
“King Orfeo is the first single from our debut album Shamming The Drama. It’s our adaptation of the traditional song that tells the story of King Orfeo and Queen Isabella (a version of the Greek myth of Orpheus and Eurydice). The melody to this song was thought to be lost, until it was recovered in the mid 20th century from the singing of John Stickle, from Unst, Shetland. The refrain is in Norn, a now extinct Scandinavian language that used to be spoken in Shetland. We had a lot of fun bringing this song together in the studio, playing with meter, voice and instrumentation. King Orfeo features Corrina Dawn’s tune Bass Strathspey — played on synth, bass and accordion. We love this tune and it’s great fun to play!”
The video was created by videographer Ruth Barrie, who has produced films for five of the album’s tracks. “We had a whirlwind 2 days working together, with costume changes, many props and visual references,” the band say. “She brought all our harebrained ideas together to create these joyful films!”
Stream King Orfeo: https://hudsonrecords.ffm.to/kingorfeo
Shamming The Drama was produced by Birdvox and Peter Brewis of Field Music, and will be released on Hudson Records later this year. Twelve big-sky songs of joy, rage, connection, grief, empowerment, the natural world, and peace for the times we’re in. Political disco; skewed-folk floor fillers; avian electronica; hymns to humanity. Birdvox make new music pulled from pasts that never met. Post-folk, post-pop, post-pigeonhole.
Website: https://www.birdvoxmusic.com/