Floyd’s Row The Carlisle Sessions
Floyd’s Row is releasing their new EP The Carlisle Sessions this week, with authentically delivered traditional folk songs and an original song to round it out that sounds like a recently discovered long-lost addition to the canon. Floyd’s Row is a new-classic British folk ensemble formed in Oxford and named after a street in the area. These musicians are the real thing, playing instruments like cittern, accordion, and violin de gamba with Celtic style soprano vocals in way that hearken back to dewy forests and times long before modern technology.
The first four songs are traditionals, arranged and interpreted by the group. The fifth song on the EP is an original by Chris Ferebee. Their song selection on this EP is enigmatic and relatively unknown traditionals. There’s “George Washington’s Favorite” a rich, lively, traditional folk instrumental. Then “Henry Martin” the tale of three brothers in merry Scotland, of which Henry is the youngest and went to sea, and, well, the story unfolds from there with pops of accordion in the mix.
“Jackaroe” is perhaps the best known of the selections, and the clear vocals pay this song delightful homage. “The Song of Robin Hood and his Huntes-men” is exciting with vicissitudes and merry hunting and tales of yore. Great songwriting.
On The Carlisle Sessions, Floyd’s Row refreshes enchanting folk artifacts – tales of Robin Hood and a song that George Washington kicked up his heels to – and reconnects these remnants of previous imaginations and times with the universal collective unconscious we all share. They add a dose of modern clarity and Emily Noël’s vocals keep it ethereal and enjoyable all throughout. A very satisfying album.
You can find more details here: https://floydsrow.com/ and here https://www.bigroundrecords.com/catalog/br9000/
Floyds Row is Emily Noël on soprano vocals; Asako Takeuchi on violin; George Lykogiannis on accordion; Chris Ferebee on cittern, guitar and mandolin; Andrew Arceci on viola da gamba and upright bass; and George Lernis on percussion.