Blackwillow Starling - Blackwillow Starling Band
Link to the album on Bandcamp
Track List:
Sun King
Between Times Pt. 1
The Wild Maiden
Matty Groves
Wild Mountain Thyme
The Answerer Sword
All Around My Hat
Between Times Pt. 2
Twinkle Twinkle Little Star
My buddy sent this to me
In a cryptic kinda way. He did say it was perhaps folky. After a bit of research the band is a duo and seem to be a band that seems to celebrate pagan traditions.
Sun King
The song is interesting a call to the morning, reminds me of songs we would sing at youth retreats when I was kid. I enjoyed what sounded like a tin whistle, made me want to try to play along.
Between Times Pt. 1
I really like the vocals and how the intertwine with the guitar on this one. I honesty think I would have preferred it without the layers of vocals but I get it’s adding a specific type of dissonance that makes it interesting musically and I don’t yet know what it’s going to lead into, either the next song or Pt. 2 later in the album. The song is a tale of the awakening of the world at Beltane, the midpoint between the winter and summer solstice.
The Wild Maiden
To be crass… now we go into the fucking part of Beltane and then the anticipation of the birth.
Matty Groves
This sounds more like a traditional folk song. It’s the story of Matty Groves who is seduced by his master’s wife and then is caught. It’s quite a tale. It’s quite fantastic.
Wild Mountain Thyme
This is a sweet love song, also a traditional folk song.
The Answerer Sword
This sounds like another original. The song seems to be from the perspective of an artifact of some sort that has the ability to see futures. The vocals are interesting with a layered effect that mimics the sound of Tibetan throat singing. The mastering seems a bit off on this one, the audio was noticeably quieter than the previous songs have been.
All Around My Hat
Mastering is back to the normal on this. I think this is another traditional folk song, but I’ve not heard it before. Almost pop sounding with the way they do the acapella intro. A story of a young man who lost his love
Between Times Pt. 2
I feel like I want to listen to this one back-to-back with part one. This song is talking about the end of the year, the same year referenced in part 1, the time between was the passage of time I suppose.
Twinkle Twinkle Little Star
A version of the nursery rhyme, with what I think is a uke.
That was enjoyable. I like the variety but think I would like to hear more of what I think are originals, Between Times Pt 1 and 2 are fantastic. Their voices intertwine with one another fantastically. I like the variety of folk instruments used. I did enjoy the traditional folk songs too but they were not the highlight. I liked the interesting use of the layered vocals of The Answerer Sword but would also like to read the lyrics to hopefully understand it a bit better. Sun King is a fantastic intro to the album. And I hope I read the story of The Wild Maiden correctly.
