Otherworldly. Nocturnal. Meditative. These are the abiding impressions created by this starkly beautiful collection from English fiddle player, Laura Cannell and Kentucky fiddle player, André Bosman. The duo have performed together for some years now, and it shows in their intuitive, seamless playing.
New Christmas Rituals is as far from the tired cliches and jaded stereotypes of the festive season as anyone can get, and still it manages to be steeped in a sense of, yes, ritual and reflection befitting the close of another year. Cannell’s overbow fiddle paired with Bosman’s amplified fiddle and bass guitar together conjure a sound world that is full of intrigue and strangeness, one that lures the listener ever deeper into its maw, where echoes of familiar festive melodies are interwoven with stark and sinuous elaborations on familiar themes.
Cannell may be known around these parts for her film composition work (under the name of Isobel Raven) and her gargantuan 2021 project where she released an album a month in collaboration with cellist Kate Ellis, titled These Feral Lands.
Her work with Bosman is of a different hue, fuelled by the pairing of two very different fiddle sounds. Hers occupies a wide open space, and mines the hypnotic potential of repetitive sequences, while Bosman’s fiddle has a wilder, throaty and undeniably southern states sensibility, one that wraps itself around Cannell’s playing with equal parts grace and danger.
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Among the nine tracks are some familiar carols: God Rest Ye Merry Gentlemen and Deck The Halls, and a number of less well known choices (at least in these parts) such as The Coventry Carol and The Shropshire Carol. Green Grows The Holly is on the receiving end of a stunning arrangement, tiptoeing in and around its festive roots with the freedom of a child released from unwanted fetters on a wide open plain.
A highlight is Cannell’s and Bosman’s treatment of O Come O Oome Emmanuel. At just over 2 minutes, what could have been a fleeting excerpt is an anchor that reaches in to its familiar melody line and then takes it somewhere else, where it floats free, another untethered ritual finding a new adventure. Which is what many of us seek to achieve at Christmas time: nodding to the rituals and traditions of the past, while finding our own new ones too.
This is music for night-time listening, with curtains drawn. Mysterious and magical, but never predictable, it’s a collection that’s likely to find its footing not only during each festive season, but for some months into each new year too. lauracannell.wordpress.com
