LOVE
this record! Late contender for single of the year!
Never a label to do
things by the book, Fruits de Mer Records release this 7” single on
the final day of the year. Quite fitting given the record's title
track and the fact that the year has (for me anyway) flown by. I've
written about Elfin Bow before. Her delightful debut album was
self-released in 2017 and is well worth tracking down. Blessed with a
beautiful voice and great songwriting skills, it turns out she's also
a fine interpreter of other people's songs. For this version of Sandy
Denny's 'Who Knows Where The Time Goes' she's collaborated with
composer and producer Gary Lloyd and is backed by the Scottish
Session Orchestra, an amazing ensemble of hand-picked principals from
Scotland's top orchestras.
It makes my list as one
of the finest 7” singles released this year. A sublime reading of a
classic song. No surprises, no bells and whistles, simply a beautiful
song, sympathetically performed and with a vocal and arrangement that
gets right to the song's emotional core. The B-side is awesome too, a
re-working of 'The Wisdom', a track from her eponymous debut album
made all the more sumptuous by Gary Lloyd's orchestral arrangement.
This single marks Elfin Bow's debut as a FdM artist though on it's
strength I'm hoping there will be more records to come. Well done and
thanks to all concerned.
Click here for Elfin
Bow.
Click here for Fruits
de Mer Records.