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.
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lyrics
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
credits
from Into The Mountain (Limited Edition) - Astrid Williamson,
track released February 18, 2022
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
Never heard of the Anchoress before hearing a gig at the Union Chapel on the day this launched. I bought the tickets entirely on a whim, thinking it might be a nice birthday present for my sister at one of our favourite venues. We both loved the gig - a discovery for us both and so nice when you discover new music by surprise. The songs played from this album were all beguiling interpretations of classics, which we loved, and the rest of the gig was great too. CAD has two new fans. bmhj
This is an unbiased review. That being said...I fell in love with Beth Arzy's voice the first time I listened to Aberdeen. I could listen to Beth sing the instruction manual for a dishwasher. But I'm grateful she's surrounded by talented and totally capable band mates instead. I'd rate Misplaced Words 4.6 out of 5. And had a devil of a time picking a favorite track. Tomorrow I might pick a different one as they're all very good. My biggest complaint is the album is over way too quick. CEF121
Well, does it live up to the hype? It's okay, not as good as 'Loops' or the 'Fenella' stuff; i doubt i'll be listening to it in full very often.
Her mojo is waneing in my 'umble opinion. vykr