Salt House
Huam
Released 20 Mar 2020
Salt House
‘Huam’ , (scots n the call of an owl) is the third collection of songs from Salt House, and their second pairing with producer Andy Bell.
The trio continued their love of recording ‘on location’ with this album, taking themselves to rural Argyllshire to finish writing and recording the songs, which were crafted between their homes of Inverness-shire and Shetland.
The album includes 6 songs written by the band and new settings of 19th and 20th Century poetry by Scotland’s Robert Thomas, Nan Shepherd and Robert Williams Buchanan, alongside American Emily Dickinson. This record sees them solidify their reputation as fine interpreters of words; new songs that sound as if they’ve always been here, ancient ballads woken up, poems given the tunes they’ve long deserved. Songs about place, politics and landscape.
The group’s meticulous attention to detail, shared passions and care for their craft sees them create an album that celebrates their love of song and tells a story of our times. They continue their exploration of old texts, whilst their own worlds reflect shared feelings of hope and wonder in the current world we share. (Their music is, in part, a contribution to the stream of artists creating work to counter a turbulent world, some light in the dark.)
Salt House are vocalist, guitarist and harmonium player Jenny Sturgeon, fiddler, viola player and vocalist LaurenMacColl, and vocalist and guitarist Ewan MacPherson.
Prints are available of the beautiful photograph by Anne Campbell of Foula, Shetland used for the Huam album cover.
Help Salt House with a small step towards offsetting their carbon footprint from CDs and travel by purchasing a tree with your CD, it will be planted in the Salt House grove as part of protected sites in the Scottish Highlands, they will create homes for wildlife and forests for the future.
100% of the money paid will be donated directly to Trees For Life Salt House grove.
Tracklist
- Fire Light•
- All Shall be Still•
- Mountain Of Gold•
- William and Elsie•
- Hope is the thing with Feathers•
- If I am Lucky•
- Lord Ullin’s Daughter•
- The Disquiet•
- The Same Land•
- Union of Crows
Credits
- Lauren MacColl viola, fiddle, vocals, glockenspiel
- Ewan MacPherson vocals, acoustic & electric guitars, dulcimer
- Jenny Sturgeon vocals, harmonium, pump organ, guitars, piano, dulcimer
- Andy Bell Engineer & Producer
- Dean Honer Mastering
- Anne Campbell Photography
- Robin Beatty Design
- "A gentle lulling delight" – The Guardian
- "Outstanding" – Irish Music Magazine
- "*****" – fRoots