Thistle Cottage Recordings
and
Oakenwood Art Studio
by
Lori Hartbarger
NORTH SEA TCR 002
A cold north wind on a misty isle. Winter's Frozen Streams and deep dark lochs...a time for tales of seductive sirens, the mermaids who roam the deep, luring men into the sea...of Selkies, Kelpies, mariners...
Below is a sampler of snippets from most of the tracks from North Sea:
North Sea'Norsemen came here long ago, down this way, to our shores...'
The mesmerising draw of the sea...
- Sea Haar
A mist or fog over the sea. A simple, but atmospheric piece that reflects its name.
*instrumental
- This Cold North Wind
'This cold north wind, blows eerie in through every soul it greets...
This song was written just before I went on a journey to Shetland, part of that journey involved ferrying over the North Sea. Ever since then I have had a fascination with the Northern Isles and the sea.
- Tempest
Coldness, wind whipping up, surging waves...
*instrumental
- Haunting
Glimpses of faces, situations that haunt the memory, popping up from nowhere to play on the mind, wishing they would vanish...
- Selkie
Selkies, in Scottish folklore, are seals who can remove their skin to become beautiful women on land. If a man can possess the skin and hide it, the Selkie has no choice but to belong to him. In the old tales, after years of devoted marriage and a few children as well, one day one of the children will ask about the strange object found hidden in a bag (the skin), and instantly the mother will go find it and return to the sea, vanishing without a trace and leaving the bereft husband and children, but occasionally leaving gifts of fish for their food. She is a creature torn between two worlds.
- Past Evening Black Lochs
He's gone on a journey again around the world, she's left behind to wait and spend the days indulging in the inner world of creativity, awaiting his return.
- Frozen Streams
Musing in the deep armchair by the fire, frozen streams lie still.
- Mariner
'Journeying through to distant lands...'
- Rig
Oil rig in the North Sea.
*instrumental
- The Waves Grow High
This song is about wives of seamen who are seeing them off on yet another journey into the deep, full of fear and trepidation for their safety and left worried and praying on the shore as the sky darkens and a storm brews and threatens...well we'll think the best and imagine them returning safely...
- Maidens Of The Deep
Mermaids, sirens of the waves. Partially inspired by the J.W. Waterhouse painting 'Hylas and the Nymphs'.
- Storm Warning
Shipping forecast: gales in the North Sea, ferry crossings inadvisable....
*instrumental
TheTrack Listing:
1. North Sea
2. Sea Haar
3. This Cold North Wind
4. Tempest
5. Haunting
6. Selkie
7. Gloaming
8. Past Evening Black Lochs
9. Frozen Streams
10. Mariner
11. Kelpie's Loch
12. Rig
13. The Waves Grow High
14. Maidens Of The Deep
15. Storm Warning
The story behind two other tracks:
At Kelpie's Loch...an old tale
The Kelpie, whose image and legend turns up in this album, is, in Scottish folklore, a creature that inhabited lochs, a waterhorse that could change into a man, and who would occasionally come out of the water and capture some poor maiden, carrying her off to the deep waters, never to be seen again. Fierce beasties they were! Not real, of course, but we won't concern ourselves about that.
'Gloaming' is a delicate acoustic instrumental, reflecting that lovely time in the evening when the sun is setting and darkness comes slowly over the sky.
Gale warning, fog, oil rigs, Northern Isles, skerry, haar, lighthouse, nebulous skies, dark grey waves, sea foam, seaweed, deep fathoms, shipping forecast, sailors, ancient tales...
Fantastic review of 'North Sea':
"Having followed Lori Hartbarger's work for a few years now, and having enjoyed immensely her glorious 2009 album Glasven, I was looking forward with great anticipation and expectation, to the release of her latest album-North Sea.
I am happy to report that North Sea has more than lived up to the already high expectations I had of it. What has always shone through in Lori's work is that the songs are absolutely sincere and heartfelt, which seems an all too rare quality these days, and this happily continues right throughout North Sea.
The songs themselves are some of the most wonderfully crafted, atmospheric songs you could wish to hear, with Lori's beautiful singing deftly weaving a delicate tapestry above the ever shifting musical delights of her gorgeous flute, guitar and synth playing. It is truly impressive how she manages to effortlessly and skilfully meld her beautiful voice and such mesmerising flute playing (like some mermaidian siren song) betwixt the flowing guitars and silkily evolving synths.
It would be a pointless exercise to single out tracks and/or musical highlights as there are just too many on this album to list. It is one of those rare releases where you will more than likely repeatedly want to listen to the album in it's splendid entirety, as from beginning to end it is an absolute joy.
North Sea is simply one of my favourite albums of recent times."
Stephen Stannard, composer, multi-instrumentalist and mastermind behind pastoral English folk band The Rowan Amber Mill
