Words by Grey Malkin

Alula Down (Mark Waters and Kate Gathercole) have been a standout presence in psych folk circles for a number of years; whether as a part of their local Weirdshire movement alongside fellow travellers Sproatly Smith, or releasing gorgeously realised albums such as 2018’s delicate ‘Homespun’ and the seasonal 2020/21 ‘Postcards From Godley Moor’ series, they weave music that has a close, tangible connection with the ecology and land that surrounds them, as well as having an egalitarian and outward looking focus. Released to coincide with the Aries new moon and solar eclipse, the Herefordshire based act’s ninth album ‘Leyline’ was borne of a pilgrimage along the Michael/Apollo leyline in the blistering summer of 2022, with the duo setting themselves the challenge of producing a new piece of music at each significant and sacred stopping point. Once home these blog entries, recordings and images took further shape, being additionally informed within the context of the climate crisis, as well as the inhumane treatment of migrants seeking shelter in the west. Presented as a joint book/photographic album venture, ‘Leyline’ is at once both ambitious and understated, widely evocative but also intimate and personal, and, at all times, a deeply beautiful work of modern, experimental folk music. Incorporating field recordings made on their journey, and elements of sound collage (much like their transcendent ‘Sound Poems’ release from earlier this year), the album speaks of Waters’ and Gathercole’s own experiences, the unique locations they visited, and a sense of impressions this journey has left them with, as well as a wider empathy for those who are displaced and must leave their own countries due to war, adverse conditions and the breakdown of the eco-system.

The album begins with ‘Waves on the Aegean Sea’, as field recordings of tranquil tides are manipulated and processed to create an immersive and meditative drone, with subtle notes and percussive drops appearing like flecks of foam from beneath the waves. This forms the first part of the ‘DELOS’ sequence, the initial stopping point and the birthplace of Apollo. Comus-like violin and plucked harp roll in over the receding waters, conjuring an air of something ancient and unknowable, something vast and imbued with mystery. Effectively a sound piece, the minimal and swirling melody is hypnotic and curiously unsettling, as if being overwhelmed by the scope and vastness of nature itself. Next, ‘DELPHI’ is introduced by ‘Walk/Arrive/Escape’, entering on a bed of harmonium drones and Waters’ voice, and intoning what feels like an aged lament or rhyme, the piece becoming evocative of Robert Wyatt’s own psychogeographical and personal travails in his masterwork ‘Rock Bottom’. What appears to be sampled insect and bird song provides backing percussion for Gathercole’s incredible performance on ‘DELPHI’ itself, a circular melody joining the hushed but mesmerising (and ever layering and growing) framework of sounds. ‘MONTE SANT’ANGELO’ follows, which sees field recordings of conversation and crowd noise weave in and out of view amongst gently pealing bells, leaving just the right amount of space for Gathercole’s highly descriptive and emotive spoken word. Sounds distort and loop, creating a heat haze, as metallic, bowed notes lift the track to a crescendo, before ‘Storm Coming In Over The Mountain’ provides exactly this, thunder and rainfall clearing and cooling the parched air. Entering Italy with ‘PERUGIA’, Waters’ and Gathercole’s voices intersect around the phrase ‘water and the absence of water’, accompanied by a sparing, melancholic ukulele. The repetition imbues the text with additional meaning and reflection, not least as it references a disastrous drought and the water being shut off in the village. On the edge of the Alps in ‘SACRA DI SAN MICHELE’, a graceful harmonium melody processes onwards, reflective and filled with hopeful melancholy, a beautiful sadness. This then segues carefully into the piece’s equally serene second part, a delicate work of double bass and Gathercole’s observational text. The nature of the song, its quiet power, draws the listener to lean in, as if joining an intimate conversation or a storytelling. Spellbinding and affecting, this is the beating heart of an album that already flows and breathes, feeling absolutely alive and connected to the world around it. The buzz of ‘Hum on the A71’ leads the album to its conclusion with the walking song ‘MONT ST MICHEL’, its looped footsteps providing a backdrop for some bewitching psyche guitar/ukulele, and a gossamer web of a folk song that utilises both of the duo’s vocals to create a gorgeous closing tension with its ever-expanding accordion and harmonium notes. 

‘Leyline’, then, is a truly special work, one that transports the listener both figuratively and emotively to these sites, surrounds and experiences. A travelogue of sorts, but one that aims to speak to broader issues and concerns, as well as to connect to the landscape and the nature that we are all a part of, it is an album that follows its own beautifully idiosyncratic intuition to reveal something utterly unique and heartfelt. Highly recommended.

Released as a CD and accompanying 24-page booklet, as well as download, ‘Leyline’ is available at Bandcamp and from Reverb Worship

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