A tarot of the green wood

"The basis of tarot is the idea of finding meaning in the arcane, interpreting something that is obscure in order to make something clear. Those shifting borders between clarity and obscurity are present everywhere in Burd Ellen's music. Six of the seven tracks are traditional, but they are tweaked and lightly jostled into uncanny hinterlands by means of Armour's high, eldritch singing, Brogan's unexpected musical interventions and that characteristic drone. The judicious use of double-tracked vocals lends a fleeting, spooked echo to a tiny snippet of opener The Fool, a song well-known in trad circles as Over The Hills And Far Away ... It is a suitably bewitching, disconcerting and often profoundly moving experience from the most innovative duo in folk music".

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"You don't release a concept album featuring ancient ballads, sometimes nine minutes in length, with the tarot as your jumping-off point and spaced-out drones as your palate and aim for the top of the hit parade. This album is meant for the heads. If weird folk is your thing, A Tarot of the Green Wood will lead you on a very pleasing exploration ... This is not folk music as a pretty, rustic celebration of frolicking girls and prancing boys. This is folk music to soundtrack a creeping sense of unease; a journey into a shadowy, liminal world. Folk music for these uncertain times, perhaps? Possibly so. If the end really is nigh, then A Tarot of the Green Wood certainly sounds like a warning shot".

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