Into The Mountain (Limited Edition) - Astrid Williamson

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ARTIST: Astrid Williamson
TITLE: Into The Mountain (Album)
RELEASED: 18th February 2022
LABEL: Incarnation Records
FORMATS: CD/Digital

ARTWORK by Tula Parker

Scottish singer-songwriter Astrid Williamson returns with her ninth studio album, inspired by writings she discovered within a folder buried deep in a hard drive, and intriguingly titled Into The Mountain.

The writings, a mix of poetry, music and personal journal, captured moments from a year-long tour Williamson undertook with Dead Can Dance in 2012-13, described by Williamson as “Part letters to a lover, or perhaps hoped for lover, part travelogue from the life of a touring musician”. The writing, encapsulating feelings of desire, loss, reflection, and acceptance, were then developed on an acoustic piano across ten separate nights and form the rich soundscapes and emotionally vivid alt-folk songs of the new record of the same name.
It was a new way of song-writing for Williamson, as she expands “My intention was to stay as close as possible to these initial sparks of inspiration rather than relying on already well-worn paths of development that I might have found more familiar or comfortable.”
Seven of the original ten pieces would survive this uncompromising new process, and over the next four years the songs of Into The Mountain were recorded in various locations including Australia, Marseille, London, and Eastbourne.

The haunting closing track There Are Words is exactly as the music unfolded in the improvising moment, as are dynamic and darkly provocative songs Body and Prague, and the haunting, minimalist arrangements of June Bug, with the original acoustic piano performances still underpinning these recordings. With a few songs there were some small structural interventions, second verses were written for the evocative first single In Gratitude, which added further weight to the song’s impassioned sense of longing, and on the immersive, ardent opener Coming Up For Air, and a middle eight was added to the pulsating and sultry Eat.

As the words found on the In The Mountain folder were written across continents, so too were the musical elements of the record it inspired. Williamson recorded the lead vocals in Australia (where she had been working with Lisa Gerrard), the drums and percussion were added at Echo Zoo Studios in Eastbourne, showcasing the talents of Martyn Barker (Robert Plant, Shriekback, Goldfrapp, Marianne Faithfull), and Williamson’s long-time cohort Richard Yale playing bass. Violinist Ruth Gottlieb (Tindersticks, Ryan Adams) stands out on sole instrumental track For Henry, and via file sharing Williamson’s old friend Lee Harris provided a cameo backing vocal on In Gratitude which he recorded in California. In Marseille, steel-guitar and cello were provided by Nicolas Dick (Kill The Thrill) and Samuel Tolkien respectively. Finally, back in London the tracks were fleshed out with more guitars and keyboards by Williamson, and guitarist/producer Andy Glen at his Crystal Palace studio.

In staying true to the original private writings penned, and re-discovered, by Williamson, Into The Mountain is startling in its frankness, moving from the darkly confessional to the joyously beautiful to reflect Williamson’s own life experiences, and making for an incredibly powerful and compelling listen.
TRACKLIST:
Coming Up For Air
In Gratitude
Eat
June Bug
Body
For Henry
Prague
Corsica
Gun
There Are Words

Into the Mountain will be released on Williamson’s re-launched label Incarnation Records on 22nd February 2022 and available on CD and digitally.

Includes unlimited streaming of Into The Mountain (Limited Edition) - Astrid Williamson via the free Bandcamp app, plus high-quality download in MP3, FLAC and more. ... more

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1.	Coming Up For Air 03:30	lyrics	buy track
Coming Up For Air September rolled by October bristles on I come up for air from under a blanket Where are you? I say out loud to no one, except you You are in London, or You are where you are Where you'll stay I poured out a wine wondering as I drank it Where are you? I say out loud to no one, except you It is me that’s all over the place Me that could never decide Not about you, oh no You are in London, or You are where you are Where you'll stay no questions there Only why, even think of you? Even think of you You, so good, you so sure You, so unlikely to hurt anyone you love Do you love me? I wonder, if you ever even ask yourself?
2.	In Gratitude 05:20	lyrics	buy track
In Gratitude Because it was the last gift you gave me I hold it in my heart Because it was the last thing To pass between us, I keep it near Because you are far away I seek it out, everyday To feel close to you Because you’re kind, I bow my head In gratitude In gratitude Because it was the last gift Because you are older Just a little older than me I let myself, I let myself feel young Because we are friends I just smile Because we are friends I say I say nothing at all I say, I say nothing at all Because you’re kind I bow my head, I bow my head In gratitude In gratitude In gratitude Thank you for the belief for the relief For keeping me strong for so long (Thank you for the belief for the relief) In gratitude
3.	Eat 03:14	lyrics	buy track
Eat So in the face of the loneliness I find a lover He is younger He is handsome He is a raw man He smells good to me So I eat, I eat So in the face of the loneliness In the face of the loneliness In the face of the loneliness In the face of the loneliness I eat, I eat Give me this, give me this Give me this, give me this Can you help me, help me heal Can you touch me I want to feel Can you know me in my bones Can you take me back home? He is a raw man, he is handsome So I eat He is a raw man So in the face of the loneliness I find a lover He is younger He is a raw man (give me this, give me this) He smells good to me So I eat, yeah I eat
4.	June Bug 06:03	lyrics	buy track
June Bug I am, you are, we are, here I am tongue-tied, breath deep Breathe, deep, I look down I can’t hold your gaze too long My friend I seek a truth I do not want A disciple reaching out for separate masters June is so light I sleep in the dark Cover my eyes and let my hair fall Let my hair fall I dream of you, dream dream I trace your lip on this photograph I once took You’re hard to find You’re hard to keep My hair slips through your fingers My heart slips through your life I stand on the sidelines I like you I watch you It’s a pleasure walking near you Bigger than me
5.	Body 03:58	lyrics	buy track
Body Bring me your body, dearest I want to know Sleep with me I will rise In you Ah, I love you There is a moment Before I see you My heart My heart beats Beats, beats, beats Beasts fall and howl Broken bones Bending, writhing, flailing I am lost In you, for you, to you I am silence
6.	For Henry 04:26		buy track
7.	Prague 03:57	lyrics	buy track
Prague Today I bought a phone for nineteen Euros I had my phone stolen, in Paris You see, when I was drunk The fact stops me feeling outraged Rather I feel like a fool I will admit it is a relief Knowing I can call you again, if I want A small thing, as I rarely do this now But I was calmed As I punched in your number As I punched in your number Tomorrow I will be in Prague
8.	Corsica 06:01	lyrics	buy track
Corsica Breathe into me Come closer, much closer How do you feel in my arms? What is revealed in bridges and blue eyes How do you feel when I smile I see you once more Certain you find my door and I I feel you move I me now But do you think that I should run Am I too pale for the Corsican sun? And do you think I should beware Or do you think I should give up The Corsican air You hold me all night Like I am your treasure You hold me so tight I can’t breathe, or leave But this place where I’m right Yields nothing in springtime So let me be wrong but believe That I see you and I In visions of desire, and I feel You move in me now But if I could I would be wild Give the wheel to my inner child Let her tear your world apart ‘Til she’s finished with your heart ‘Cause she thinks that I should run ‘Cause i’m too pale for the Corsican son And she knows I’ll never share Yeah she thinks I should give up The Corsican heir The Corsican heir The Corsican heir Breathe into me come closer, much closer
9.	Gun 05:26	lyrics	buy track
Gun If I were to begin in the middle, I might say There’s a bridge you will cross Which leads to the end of your life But who ever knows the exact second Into which they are born Time, sinuate, slithering hours into days, days into years Uncoils recklessly into all my wasted moments, Engulfing the reach for certainty The striving for something like truth And I’ve spent my life trying to hear this song Buried with, and wedded to desire Shrouded by subjugation and rejection, I now yield to the futility Of trying to learn the song of my own heart It’s strains woven with truth but as incoherent as bees Spiralling down, Infinite as the windings on a periwinkles back Felt in the body The little hairs rising up on my arms And standing sentinel to all things is memory Where we are at once imprisoned and liberated It’s loss the drain into oblivion I’m losing my own mother and I ask myself Where have you gone Mam? As I wish you into the gentle arms of gentle Jesus All the while absconding from the crushing guilt I carry in my own Surrendering to the velocity of life again and again Reeling like Goldmund between lust and despair Hungry for peace and cessation, For the tranquil waters But the waters are heaving with a leviathan Essential rhythm giving way to automation Hypnotised by machines Hyper-muscular test tube dogs and weaponised super humans Are created and absolved No dead man’s switch, no dreams of electric sheep The unceremonious knife-at-your-throat black-operative Thought too explicit for our sanitised visions of death And continents away Many degrees separated from our acts, We sit collectively, indifferently Unaware that this dissociation Is the last refuge of our dying soul But in this small moment into which I am now born Trying to see the world through the eyes of God’s avatar I’m not proud, I seek only relief From the cold burning my cheek, The bright wind biting and drawing me inescapably towards myself The salt stinging ice clad waves of November Making hand holding impossible And my heart grieves for that unusually sunny day spent indoors And I realise I’ve simply come back to where I began But secretly, secretly I’m still banging my drum So keep from me, keep from me A pill, a blade or a gun Yeah secretly, secretly, yeah I’m still banging my drum You better keep from me, keep from me A pill, a blade or a gun A pill, a blade or a gun Keep from me, keep from me, your gun But Secretly, secretly, I’m still banging my drum You better keep from me, keep from me A pill, a blade or a gun Secretly, secretly I’m still banging my drum
10.	There Are Words 03:11	lyrics	buy track
There Are Words Where there are no fingers There are words Where there are no lips There are words Where my palms can’t sit full flat on your chest Feeling your heartbeat, there are words Where my hair cannot fall against your back There are words Where my foot can’t caress your calves There are words Where my breath cannot fall Softly upon your neck There are only words

about

Scottish singer-songwriter Astrid Williamson returns with her ninth studio album, inspired by writings she discovered within a folder buried deep in a hard drive, and intriguingly titled Into The Mountain.

The writings, a mix of poetry, music and personal journal, captured moments from a year-long tour Williamson undertook with Dead Can Dance in 2012-13, described by Williamson as “Part letters to a lover, or perhaps hoped for lover, part travelogue from the life of a touring musician”.

The writing, encapsulating feelings of desire, loss, reflection, and acceptance, were then developed on an acoustic piano across ten separate nights and form the rich soundscapes and emotionally vivid alt-folk songs of the new record of the same name.

It was a new way of song-writing for Williamson, as she expands “My intention was to stay as close as possible to these initial sparks of inspiration rather than relying on already well-worn paths of development that I might have found more familiar or comfortable.”

Seven of the original ten pieces would survive this uncompromising new process, and over the next four years the songs of Into The Mountain were recorded in various locations including Australia, Marseille, London, and Eastbourne.

The haunting closing track There Are Words is exactly as the music unfolded in the improvising moment, as are dynamic and darkly provocative songs Body and Prague, and the haunting, minimalist arrangements of June Bug, with the original acoustic piano performances still underpinning these recordings.

With a few songs there were some small structural interventions, second verses were written for the evocative first single In Gratitude, which added further weight to the song’s impassioned sense of longing, and on the immersive, ardent opener Coming Up For Air, and a middle eight was added to the pulsating and sultry Eat.

As the words found on the In The Mountain folder were written across continents, so too were the musical elements of the record it inspired.

Williamson recorded the lead vocals in Australia (where she had been working with Lisa Gerrard), the drums and percussion were added at Echo Zoo Studios in Eastbourne, showcasing the talents of Martyn Barker (Robert Plant, Shriekback, Goldfrapp, Marianne Faithfull), and Williamson’s long-time cohort Richard Yale playing bass. Violinist Ruth Gottlieb (Tindersticks, Ryan Adams) stands out on sole instrumental track For Henry, and via file sharing Williamson’s old friend Lee Harris provided a cameo backing vocal on In Gratitude which he recorded in California. In Marseille, steel-guitar and cello were provided by Nicolas Dick (Kill The Thrill) and Samuel Dick Tolkien respectively. Finally, back in London the tracks were fleshed out with more guitars and keyboards by Williamson, and guitarist/producer Andy Glen at his Crystal Palace studio.

In staying true to the original private writings penned, and re-discovered, by Williamson, Into The Mountain is startling in its frankness, moving from the darkly confessional to the joyously beautiful to reflect Williamson’s own life experiences, and making for an incredibly powerful and compelling listen.

credits

released February 18, 2022

Coming Up For Air
Vocals, Synthesizers, String Arrangements – Astrid Williamson
Acoustic Guitar, Electric Guitars, Additional Percussion – Andy Glen
Cello – Samuel Dick Tolkien
12 String guitar, Finger drum - Lucas Christoff
Bass Guitar – Richard Yale
Drums – Martyn Barker

In Gratitude
Vocals, Piano, Synthesizers, String Arrangements – Astrid Williamson
Electric Guitar, Acoustic Guitar, Additional String Arrangements – Andy Glen
Lap Steel Guitar – Nicolas Dick
Backing Vocals – Lee Harris
Bass Guitar – Richard Yale
Drums - Martyn Barker

Eat
Vocals, Piano, Synthesizers, String Arrangements, Xylophone – Astrid Williamson
Bass Guitar, Electric and Acoustic Guitars, Percussion Programming – Andy Glen
Drums - Martyn Barker

June Bug
Vocals, Piano – Astrid Williamson
Additional Percussion Programming – Andy Glen
Lap Steel Guitar – Nicolas Dick
Orchestral Bass Drum, Reco Reco, Chinese Wind Gong - Martyn Barker
String Arrangements – Astrid Williamson and Andy Glen

Body
Vocals, Piano, Synthesizers, Ostinato Guitar – Astrid Williamson
Additional Percussion Programming, Acoustic Guitar - Andy Glen
Lap Steel Guitar– Nicolas Dick
Bass Guitar – Richard Yale
Drums – Martyn Barker

For Henry
Piano – Astrid Williamson
Violin – Ruth Gottlieb

Prague
Vocals, Piano, Synthesizers, String Arrangements – Astrid Williamson
E-Bow, Electric Guitars – Andy Glen
Bass Guitar- Richard Yale
Drums – Martyn Barker

Corsica
Vocals, Piano, Electric Guitars, Synthesizers, String Arrangements – Astrid Williamson
Violin – Ruth Gottlieb
Cello – Samuel Dick Tolkien
Percussion, Chinese Wind Gong - Martyn Barker
Additional Percussion Programming - Andy Glen

Gun
Vocals, Acoustic & Electric Guitars, Synthesizers, Hammond Organ – Astrid Williamson
Additional Backing Vocals, Tambourine – Andy Glen
Lap Steel Guitar – Nicolas Dick
Bass Guitar – Richard Yale
Drums, Tambourine, Shaker - Martyn Barker

There Are Words
Vocals, Piano, Synthesizers – Astrid Williamson

All songs written by Astrid Williamson

All songs produced, engineered and mixed by Andy Glen at Black Shed Studios, London.

Coming Up For Air and In Gratitude remixed by Nicolas Dick at Le Puits Sonore, Marseille.

There Are Words recorded and mixed by Simon Bowley at Willow Crescent Studio, Warragul, Australia.

Drums and percussion on Coming Up For Air, In Gratitude, June Bug, Body, Prague, Corsica and Gun recorded at Echo Zoo studios, Eastbourne by Christoph Skirl. Drums on Eat recorded at Bubble Studios, Eastbourne by Martyn Barker.

Lead vocals on all tracks, except Corsica and Gun, recorded by Simon Bowley at Willow Crescent Studio, Warragul, Australia.
Additional vocals recorded by Andy Glen at Black Shed Studios, London and by Astrid in various locations.
Violins recorded by Astrid at home in Brighton.
Cellos recorded at Le Puits Sonore, Marseille by Nicolas Dick.
All guitars engineered and recorded by Andy Glen at Black Shed Studios, London, except Gun acoustic and electric guitars recorded by Astrid at home in Brighton and Corsica guitars recorded in Marseille.
All lap steel guitars performed and recorded by Nicolas Dick at Le Puits Sonore, Marseille.
Pianos on In Gratitude recorded by Andy Glen, Matteo Skipsi and Noah Dayan, at Abbey Road Studios. All other pianos recorded by Astrid variously in; Mum’s house, Brosscroft, Hadfield. Peacock Lodge, Wootton, Lincolnshire. Candy’s House in Brighton. The Red Room, Brighton.

Mastered at Le Puits Sonore, Marseille by Nicolas Dick.

Artwork by Tula Parker

(P) & (C) 2022 Incarnation Records

Published by Mute Song

www.astridwilliamson.co.uk
www.incarnationrecords.co.uk
www.mutesong.com
www.laurenceaston.com
www.tulaparker.co.uk

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