2021
Michelle Birkballe
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Reviews (3)
The guardian
d. 4. Dec. 2020
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By
Jude Rogers
d. 4. Dec. 2020
"Folk album of the month" - "A brilliant set of wintersongs from all across Britain that almost hovers in the air like an eerie snowglobe of sound. It begins with two minutes of buzzing drones, bowed cymbals, violin string scrapes, and distant murmurations of birdsong, setting a stage of pure ice and pitch blackness. Debbie Armour enters singing folk revival classic Please to See the King and when Gayle Brogan joins her in harmony, their Scottish voices mist together almost viscously ... Well-known songs have their lyrics highlighted in illuminating ways throughout. Coventry Carol's tale of the "little tiny child" and Herod's advance moves with a menacing slowness against a low, shuddering murmur. The metaphysical strangeness of the Corpus Christi Carol, revived by Jeff Buckley on 1994's Grace, fittingly builds then distorts, before unwinding into a coda of piano and guitars that recalls Talk Talk's Laughing Stock".
The third ear
d. 22. Nov. 2020
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By
Thomas Blake
d. 22. Nov. 2020
"A really stunning album, one which takes delight in the darkness of winter and shows just what can be achieved in spite of the constraints of isolation and physical distance. Says the Never Beyond is one of the outstanding folk albums of the year".
Folk radio UK
d. 27. Nov. 2020
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By
David Kidman
d. 27. Nov. 2020
"Burd Ellen is the name given to the solo project of Glasgow-based singer and musician Debbie Armour, which has, since 2018, formed a natural continuation of her earlier work with artists like Alasdair Roberts, Alex Neilson and Howie Reeve. Here, in the company of singer and multi-instrumentalist Gayle Brogan aka Pefkin (...), [Debbie] evokes dark landscapes and deep stories by means of innovative instrumentation, drone and sound-wash techniques which support detailed, often also quite intricately layered, vocal work to create a unique sonic atmosphere ... It's a collection of carols and wintersongs that occupy the liminal space between sacred and secular, connecting to the deep seasonal traditions of Britain and Ireland. Its musical soundscapes transport the listener from intimate and small-scale to cavernous and laden; in which respect it might be perceived as an album of sonic extremes ... An impressive achievement by any standards, for it delivers a startlingly innovative approach to the performance of the deep seasonal repertoire".