Britain's mystical folk wonder Kim Thompsett presents her sophomore album 'The Hollows'. Exploring themes that are rooted in nature, mysticism and the arcane, this music sends the listener on a lush trip to eras past.
Recorded at
Broadoak Studios in Bexhill, East Sussex over a four-year period, this album was mixed, mastered and produced by
Harvey Summers, well known for his work with Paul McCartney, Daniel Lanois, Moby, Steeleye Span, Pentangle, Ellie Ford, Danny Thompson (Kate Bush, Peter Gabriel, Nick Drake, Pentangle), Hossam Ramzy (Peter Gabriel, Led Zeppelin),
Cutting Crew and Divine Comedy, among others.
Listen here:
Earlier, she released the lead track 'Woebetide Hill' single, followed by 'Moonchild's Lullaby' as the second single. 'The Hollows' is the long-awaited follow-up to 'Songs from the Uglee Meadow', her debut album, released in 2008.
'The Hollows' evokes an archaic atmosphere and nuances of Celtic and medieval times. At the same time, it branches out into a more experimental and eclectic idiom with a more diverse range of instrumentation and more sophisticated production.
Songs celebrating ancient connections with forest, with earth, with sky and with water - the shedding of ego and an immersion in the universe. The music itself is most reminiscent of the English folk of the '70's with a few other genres for good measure.
"I wanted to make an album that was primarily something I would enjoy listening to. If other people like it too, that's great. Having come to fruition some ten years after the debut album, I wanted to ensure it was a natural progression from the previous work and that the songs were manifested in the fully-developed compositions that only the songwriter can hear during the creative process," says Thompsett.
Kim Thompsett has been writing songs and performing, both solo and with various bands, for around 20 years. Her music has attracted a niche following of primarily pagan and traditional folk music fans with a penchant for nature and literary references.
The album artwork was especially commissioned and created by Gary Williamson. The new animated video for
'Moonchild's Lullaby', created by
James Wright, magically brings the album artwork to life. He explains, "We settled on the concept of bringing the album artwork to life, including some of Kim's suggestions (e.g. critters moving across the landscape, stars twinkling, and pushing snowdrops from underneath). Here, we start underground and push up through the earth into the wood. We then continue through the woods till we arrive at the burial mound. Everything in the video is cut out digitally from the original artwork except the cocoon hanging in the tree and the earth at the beginning screen. I used the cutouts to create separate planes, which allowed me to create perspective and, of course, more trees. I also managed to animate a few features of the artwork."
As of May 31, 'The Hollows' album will be available on CD, vinyl and digitally via Meniscus Hump Records. It can be ordered directly from the artist via
Bandcamp, and found via online stores like
iTunes and streaming platforms such as
Spotify.
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