The Bitter Harvest
Artist and singer Andrew King has released an album of traditional English folk songs entitled The Bitter Harvest. Andrew will be familiar to Sol Invictus fans for his artistic, literary and musical contributions to Tony Wakeford’s On magazine, and the album is distributed by World Serpent. Andrew is an enthusiastic and highly knowledgeable exponent of traditional song as well as entertaining a certain obsession with the Baroque.
The singing is essentially unaccompanied but drones and percussion are effectively deployed in places in a supporting role. Andrew’s distinctive voice and clear articulation are impressive. The melody line is adorned with grace notes in traditional style, but strength and control ensure that he stays in tune.
His choice of material – dark and murderous – includes classics of the folk repertoire such as ‘The House Carpenter’ and the melodic gem, ‘Brigg Fair’. The distribution of this album, complete with learned notes, puts to shame the effort now being made by the old-established folk labels.