Vinyl Of The Week: Carousell – Black Swallow & Other Songs

This weeks fav vinyl was a no brainer to be honest and sees the Digitalis label reintroduce Carousell’s ‘Black Swallow & Other Songs’ via a limited edition vinyl pressing…

In the last decade or so, Richard Skelton has cemented his place as one of experimental music’s most favored sons. Through a multitude of projects (under his own name and otherwise) and his own Sustain Release label there has been an absolute treasure trove of music to sink your teeth into. The first project of Skelton’s that I heard back in 2005 was Carousell (and the lovely A Dead Bridges Into Dust album) so it felt poetic that the first thing we worked on through Digitalis was a reissue of the latest Carousell album, Black Swallow & Other Songs.

Originally issued on Sustain Release in the criminally low run of 100 CDs, Black Swallow & Other Songs is a soft and sparse exercise in understated melodies. This is music rich in texture and heavy on the emotional impact it makes. The nearly-nine minute “Artery” opens the album and slowly coalesces from a fractured whisper to leave its marks in your skin. Blurry violin notes stretch to the breaking point while Skelton loosely strums and plucks his guitar into a warm, aural embrace. The title track continues with this theme, but adds a heavy dose of nostalgic melancholy to the proceedings. It’s like you have to look back, accept things and head down the winding path to a new future.

Even with a certain somberness at the heart of these songs is an underlying mirth. On the closing suite, “Owl Lanterns” and “The Clearing,” we get a full dose of this hopefulness. A child’s laughter flickers by while the bowed strings add an unfaltering lightness. Skelton’s guitar plucks are floating on clouds, passing by with a buoyant spirit. As Autumn Grieve’s wordless vocals bring everything to a close there is nowhere else to go but up. Her voice is the exclamation mark, powerful and restrained as it leads the minimal bowed & plucked strings to rest.

Black Swallow & Other Songs is a potent mix of darkness and light, expertly crafted by one of the UK’s premier composers. Even if Skelton operates under multiple guises and pseudonyms, each project has its own identity. With Carousell, he’s ready to break your heart so he can put it back together in the end. – Digitalis

Available through the Fluid Radio store Stashed Goods