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Edgelarks

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Latest Music

Henry Martin

Henry Martin

Edgelarks: Phillip Henry and Hannah Martin

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This album was handmade at home during the coronavirus pandemic of 2020. We were halfway through a tour when COVID-19 shut down the world, and we hurried home feeling disconsolate and afraid. Soon, we were worried about more than just the disease; when would we ever be able to gig again? Every day we would hear about another venue that would never
This album was handmade at home during the coronavirus pandemic of 2020. We were halfway through a tour when COVID-19 shut down the world, and we hurried home feeling disconsolate and afraid. Soon, we were worried about more than just the disease; when would we ever be able to gig again? Every day we would hear about another venue that would never reopen, another promoter who was hanging up their hat. We mourned for the wonderful festivals that would struggle to survive, and for not only our fellow musicians, but all the amazing folks “backstage”, whose careers were being destroyed – booking agents, roadies, publicists, sound and lighting techs, managers.

However, as the days passed in a strange, featureless desert, we were hugely moved by how supported we were being, by listeners subscribing to our Bandcamp, ordering cds, refusing refunds for cancelled gigs, and tuning in to our online concerts. Suddenly we realised we had been given a rare gift – time. Ironically, life on the road allows very little space for actually making music. But now, we could practice, develop our musicality, learn new songs, make new things.

Such an abrupt change from our daily touring life had left us with a sense of lost identity. If we weren't out there playing music to people, were we still musicians? This feeling sent us back to our roots. We decided we wanted to celebrate that mighty survivor, the tradition itself, tenaciously clinging on down the years. The world might feel like it is ending; but you need a song to sing for every occasion, and there the tradition can help you. What is more, essential to that survival is also evolution; taking old songs and attempting to breathe new life into them, with new musical approaches. We have focused on a more upbeat selection here, because this is an album about overcoming – about learning to do it yourself because you can't get the usual help; about not giving up; about not stopping playing, even in the face of disaster. This is an album that looks back, to hundreds of years of music making in these islands – but that also looks forward, to a time when we can overcome the distance that separates us, and raise our voices together once more in song.

Hannah Martin, August 2020
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  1. 1
    Greenwood Laddie 4:08
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  2. 2
    Locks and Bolts 3:59
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  3. 3
    Henry Martin 4:32
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  4. 4
    The Mountain Stream 4:51
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  5. 5
    Queen Amongst The Heather 5:11
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  6. 6
    Come Write Me Down 5:23
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  7. 7
    The Deluded Lover 3:25
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  8. 8
    Bird In A Cage 4:08
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  9. 9
    The Seeds of Love 3:16
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Feather

Feather

Edgelarks: Phillip Henry and Hannah Martin

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In the autumn of 2017, after many months of intense touring, we put out a call. We hadn't written any music, or practised, for far too long – did anyone have a place to which we could retreat, to work on new material?

Amidst many kind offers of help, our friend Jon introduced us to Paul and Jella, who offered us a week in a cottage deep in the
In the autumn of 2017, after many months of intense touring, we put out a call. We hadn't written any music, or practised, for far too long – did anyone have a place to which we could retreat, to work on new material?

Amidst many kind offers of help, our friend Jon introduced us to Paul and Jella, who offered us a week in a cottage deep in the west Cumbrian Lakes.

This album is the result. It was an incredible gift, to carve out time away from the world, and explore ideas long hoarded in notebooks. We stocked the fridge, banked the fire, and wrote.
We found that we were writing about hope. The troubled world didn't seem to need any more sad songs! We had been lucky enough to experience kindness, solace, rest and welcome, and these were now the things we wanted to sing about.

We returned home from Cumbria with a suitcase full of songs. Songs to sing against sadness, loneliness, and the erosions of time; songs of the hills, of wild rain and sunshine, of the circles of all things; songs for tired hearts, troubled minds, and soulsick wanderers. Songs of hope.

Inspired by the sound we were making in the cottage, we wanted to approach the recording differently to previous albums we've made. We decided to capture the live sound of the duo, keeping to two instruments, two vocals, with the occasional addition of foot percussion, foot pedalled shruti, and harmonica on a neck brace.

We hope that you enjoy it.

Hannah and Phil x
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  1. 1
    Feather 3:48
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  2. 2
    Where I Stand 4:37
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  3. 3
    Back From Hope 4:06
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  4. 4
    Wanting Nothing 3:59
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  5. 5
    What We Save From The Tide 5:02
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  6. 6
    Oyster 5:56
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  7. 7
    Time Away 3:40
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  8. 8
    Growing 3:55
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  9. 9
    Wander 5:06
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  10. 10
    Spencer The Rover 6:02
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  11. 11
    The Longest Day 4:45
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