This is one of my “better late” reviews, as I was unable to listen to much music when this was released in the spring.
I have enjoyed the previous Salt House releases but hear ye now: Riverwoods is simply amazing. Not because it’s grand or crushingly impressive – it’s because it’s there.
The album’s info tells us that it’s “a musical response to the feature-length documentary of the same name made by rewilding charity ‘SCOTLAND: The Big Picture’ … and inspired by the journey of the atlantic salmon and the much-needed biodiversity along our river systems.”
And that explains a lot because the first time I listened to this, I was on one of my walks and the music fitted so perfectly in my Nordic landscape and the woods and the light, it was just stunning and soothing at the same time.
The fantastic trio of Lauren MacColl, Jenny Sturgeon and Ewan MacPherson have created music that doesn’t emulate the sounds of nature but somehow contains the essence of the natural environment. The tunes flow, and seem to follow, a river, and there’s a brook-like, streaming feel underneath many of the tunes, with the guitar or the piano playing a quiet but fast pattern against a slower fiddle melody.
The production, by Andy Bell & band, is brilliant, with just a tiny touch of studio magic creating an ambience and space for both the instruments and the listener; Riverwoods becomes a place or state where you’re safe and alive.
It’s the next best thing to being in the actual, real nature, and I’m hugely grateful to these remarkable musicians for giving us this music, this experience.
FolkNotes 