Alasdair Roberts | Emily Portman | Rachel Newton | Lucy Farrell
".....They are simply one of the most formidable combinations of musicians in today’s folk music scene, and in We Know by the Moon, they have created one of the year’s outstanding albums."
Thomas Blake folk radio UK
Thomas Blake folk radio UK
BBC Radio 2 Folk award winners of *Best Group* 2017
'A rare band of distinctively individual singers and musicians who knit perfectly' *****fROOTS
‘A bravely sparse and compelling new take on traditional songs... A quietly classy folk band’- The Guardian
'A rare band of distinctively individual singers and musicians who knit perfectly' *****fROOTS
‘A bravely sparse and compelling new take on traditional songs... A quietly classy folk band’- The Guardian
We Know by the Moon is the latest album from award-winning English/Scottish group The Furrow Collective (Lucy Farrell, Rachel Newton, Emily Portman and Alasdair Roberts). Recorded with long-time producer Andy Bell between Glasgow and Sheffield in early 2023, ten years after the band’s formation, the album has a lunar theme:
"The moon, the stars, darkness and night are threads woven through these songs. Songs to be listened to after dark, by candlelight, firelight, or under the cold, steady light of our constant lunar companion." The Furrow Collective
A wintry album of moonlit serenades and starlit balladry, We Know by the Moon showcases the group’s characteristic array of musical talents and ability to source and transform the quirkiest of folk songs, honed over a full decade of playing and singing together. The band’s voices blend in harmony singing at its rawest, with understated and sensitive instrumental accompaniment, featuring harp, guitars, piano and viola.
The 11 tracks feature songs from England, Scotland and beyond; from 's Fhada Leam an Oidhche Gheamhraidh’, the homesick Gaelic lament of an Isle of Lewis emigrant, to Robert Burns’ ‘O, Wert Thou in the Cauld Blast’, as well as a foray into the German language with Schubert’s ‘Der Leiermann (The Hurdy-Gurdy Man)‘ and an unaccompanied vocal version of ‘Oh Watch the Stars’, learnt from a record by The Seeger Sisters. The record features spellbinding illustrations by May Farrell (Lucy’s mum) to accompany each song.
The Furrow Collective formed in 2013, its four individually distinctive members drawn together by a shared love of traditional song and balladry of England, Scotland and beyond and an open, intuitive approach to collaboration. In recognition of their innovative approach, The Furrow Collective were awarded the accolade of 'Best Group' at the 2017 BBC Radio 2 Folk Awards, hot on the heels of the release in late 2016 of their second album, Wild Hog. Their fourth album, We Know by the Moon is the follow up to Fathoms (2018) and was sparked as an idea after their 2022 winter EP The Longest Night.
Order now
"The moon, the stars, darkness and night are threads woven through these songs. Songs to be listened to after dark, by candlelight, firelight, or under the cold, steady light of our constant lunar companion." The Furrow Collective
A wintry album of moonlit serenades and starlit balladry, We Know by the Moon showcases the group’s characteristic array of musical talents and ability to source and transform the quirkiest of folk songs, honed over a full decade of playing and singing together. The band’s voices blend in harmony singing at its rawest, with understated and sensitive instrumental accompaniment, featuring harp, guitars, piano and viola.
The 11 tracks feature songs from England, Scotland and beyond; from 's Fhada Leam an Oidhche Gheamhraidh’, the homesick Gaelic lament of an Isle of Lewis emigrant, to Robert Burns’ ‘O, Wert Thou in the Cauld Blast’, as well as a foray into the German language with Schubert’s ‘Der Leiermann (The Hurdy-Gurdy Man)‘ and an unaccompanied vocal version of ‘Oh Watch the Stars’, learnt from a record by The Seeger Sisters. The record features spellbinding illustrations by May Farrell (Lucy’s mum) to accompany each song.
The Furrow Collective formed in 2013, its four individually distinctive members drawn together by a shared love of traditional song and balladry of England, Scotland and beyond and an open, intuitive approach to collaboration. In recognition of their innovative approach, The Furrow Collective were awarded the accolade of 'Best Group' at the 2017 BBC Radio 2 Folk Awards, hot on the heels of the release in late 2016 of their second album, Wild Hog. Their fourth album, We Know by the Moon is the follow up to Fathoms (2018) and was sparked as an idea after their 2022 winter EP The Longest Night.
Order now
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'If the future of folk music sounds like Fathoms we are in safe hands indeed.'
FRUK 'Something of a delicacy to be savoured' **** Northern Sky 'Like The Unthanks, The Furrow Collective are adventurous in their interpretation of the traditional songbook of the British Isles' Scotsman 'Innovative arrangements, yet never losing the essence of their roots' FATEA |
'One of the most refreshing interpreters of traditional song in the UK**** Songlines |
Excited to share this beautiful new video for 'Down by the Greenwoodside' by the amazing Maud Hewlings! Thanks to Folk Radio for the premier!
News
New album | Fathoms | out now
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The Furrow Collective
Fathoms November 2018 sees the release of the third album Fathoms by award-winning and acclaimed folk group The Furrow Collective. Produced in Powys and Oxfordshire by honorary fifth-Furrow Andy Bell Fathoms sees the group build further on their substantial reputation for breathing new life into traditional songs. Fathoms captures typically innovative arrangements and sets the four distinctive voices in a magical, captivating sound-world. As with their previous collections, the impression is by turns ancient, evoking the lines back to the earliest source, and then altogether unknown; fresh as tomorrow morning. The Furrow Collective is an English/Scottish band consisting of four talented and individually prominent performers: Lucy Farrell (viola, voice & saw), Rachel Newton (harp, fiddle, voice), Emily Portman (banjo, concertina, voice) and Alasdair Roberts (guitars, voice). The group formed in 2013, drawn together by a shared love of traditional song and balladry of the England, Scotland and beyond and an open, intuitive approach to collaboration. In recognition of their innovative approach, The Furrow Collective were awarded the accolade of 2017 BBC Radio 2 Folk Awards 'Best Group', hot on the heels of the release in late 2016 of their second album, Wild Hog (also on Hudson Records). |
WILD HOG
WILD HOG | 4.11.16
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CD . LP . DL
November 2016 sees the release of the group's second album, Wild Hog, on new imprint Hudson Records. Again produced by Andy Bell and building on the success of its predecessor, Wild Hog shows a marked development in the group's sound and approach, featuring guest musicians Alex Neilson (Trembling Bells) on drums and Stevie Jones (Sound of Yell) on double bass. The Furrow Collective has toured extensively throughout the UK as well as in mainland Europe. Lucy, Rachel, Emily and Alasdair will continue to tour around the release of Wild Hog and into the future, delighting audiences far and near with their uniquely beguiling approach to traditional song.