TWO musical forces of the Scottish folk and roots music scene have composed love notes to nature conveying an urgent message to listeners to cherish the planet.
Samples of whistling winds from Skye, crashing waves from Harris beaches and sounds of the forest from the outskirts of Glasgow are all part of a new album by Laura-Beth Salter and Ali Hutton, also known as duo From The Ground.
The record has been years in the making, as the pair put the body of work together in a way which is markedly different to their usual individual creative approaches and typically acoustic sounds.
The album’s title track From The Ground is written by Salter from the perspective of a mighty old tree, rooted to the earth and unable to move away from the fires burning ever around it.
Another track is inspired by the Boreal Forests – also referred to as snow forests or taiga. This mighty expanse is the world’s largest ecozone, stretching across Canada, China, Finland, Japan, Norway, Russia, Sweden and the USA and holds 20% of the world’s carbon emissions.
“This album is our ode to nature and the solace we and so many others find in it,” said Salter, who is a founder member of Kinnaris Quintet and The Shee. “We have tried to capture the hope we feel towards changes being made to save the environment for the future, while at the same time reflecting on the reality of the damage that has already been done.
“Developing our sound took a lot of time and patience but it’s been well worth the effort and we hope it’s music that will provide a journey for each listener in the way it has for us.”
Multi-instrumentalist Hutton added: “From The Ground has been a huge learning curve for both of us. We’re used to writing, arranging, rehearsing and then recording material with bands but here, we wanted to create something a bit different.
“We spent a lot of time developing samples and soundscapes that would reflect the moods and themes we wanted to get across. Where it wasn’t possible to capture sounds on location, I combined synths and audio samples to replicate natural sounds.
“All of these noises were used to paint a picture, tell a story and capture feelings that we associate with nature, environment, culture and human connection. The tracks are sonic narratives, laid out in a way that hopefully will help people visualise the themes and emotions that we intended to convey.”
The pair are joined by Patsy Reid on fiddles and Paul Jennings on drums, while Duncan Lyall is on double bass, electric bass and moog as well as providing some additional programming.
Spoken word is also woven throughout the record, with readings from Perthshire poet Jim Mackintosh, musician Danny Schwarze, Gaelic songstress Kim Carnie, award-winning writer Jeremy Raison and sea kayaker and advocate for good mental health Nick Ray.
From The Ground will be available to buy, download and stream on March 29
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