Finally, this Crowd Funded project sees fruition; featuring stunning artwork (a rendering of Dylan’s wife, Holly), ‘Falling with a Thousand Stars and Other Wonders from the House of Albion’ is a reworking of folk songs from the British Isles. All seven songs have been stripped of their vocals, and the tales of elves, woodland creatures, demons and witches are told through the unmistakable twang of Carlson’s guitar tone. This album has become so expansive there is now talk of any accompanying short film and book, however, as the wait for this particular record has been quite long, don’t expect to experience those for a while yet.
‘Falling with a Thousand Stars…’ encompasses all of the reverb and drone needed to sate the appetite of ‘Earth II’ fans, while the enduring and Western feel of songs such as ‘Alisson Gross’ will strike favour with those who enjoyed Carlson’s movie soundtrack ‘Gold’ as well as the Earth album ‘Hex’. Each song averages around four notes which are traversed in painstaking detail, however, despite its sparseness this album never feels boring or like it’s a chore to listen to. Folky and melodic, almost quaint in places, tracks such as ‘Rose in the Heather’ are strangely accessible and reminiscent of lazy summer days (making the release date of this hugely convenient).
For those whose ears prick up at the mention of the word ‘folk’, none of these songs will be instantly recognisable; Carlson has made them entirely his own, going at a slow and measured pace. This is more like a quiet meander through a garden than it is a romper stomp around a campfire, and that suits us just fine.
(7.5/10 Angela Davey)
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