Award-winning Northumbrian roots musician Kathryn Tickell is to release her second album with The Darkening, cloud horizons on September 1 via Resilient Records. The new record will be available on CD and digital download.
The first single “Long For Light” is out now and immediately available with album pre-orders. The inimitable sound of Kathryn’s piping opens this enigmatic trip-hop influenced song. An ancient Northumbrian language is reimagined. Downtempo trance meets tradition.
Based in the shadow of Hadrian’s Wall yet reaching out to the wider world, Kathryn Tickell & The Darkening explore the connecting threads of music, landscape and people over a period of almost 2000 years. Songs range from themes of freedom, nature and venturing out into the world after times of darkness, to a Roman inscription with links to Libya and Syria magnetically pulled into the 21st century by Amen-inspired breakbeats, ominous vocals and the wildest of piping…
cloud horizons is an album of extremes – Northumbrian traditions meet global influences. Dark, edgy soundscapes flare into euphoria with the razor-sharp precision of the pipes and accordion, bombastic effects-drenched octave-mandolin, haunting harmony vocals, skillfully programmed beats, evocative slow airs and wild, heart-pounding dance tunes. Lyres, clàrsach, sistrum, bone-flute and traditional Galician percussion add potency to the compelling ambience.
cloud horizons is the follow-up to Kathryn Tickell & The Darkening’s acclaimed 2019 debut Hollowbone, about which The Observer declared in its glowing review: “A clever, shape-shifter of a record….founded on an exceptional band.”
“The Darkening are a modern tradition and a newly born ancestor, pointing bravely forward into the past, impelling us to listen and compelling us to dance….”
Named after the old Northumbrian word for twilight, The Darkening is made up of four North-East England-based members: Kathryn Tickell (Northumbrian smallpipes, fiddle, vocals), Amy Thatcher (accordion, synth, clogs, vocals), Kieran Szifris (octave mandolin), Joe Truswell (drums, percussion, programming, plus Stef Conner from Cambridge (vocals, lyres, sistrum) and Josie Duncan from the Isle of Lewis (vocals, clarsach). Together these dazzling musicians create musical magic; dynamic and unique “Ancient Northumbrian Futurism”.
To celebrate the release of cloud horizons, Kathryn Tickell & The Darkening will play shows and festivals from August to October with dates as follows:
Fri 4 August Sidmouth Folk Festival
Sat 5 August Wickham Festival
Sat 19 August Folk East
Fri 1 Sept Lindisfarne Festival
Sat 2 Sept Civic Theatre, Gosforth
Thurs 7 Sept Victoria Hall, Settle
Fri 8 Sept Theatre, Chipping Norton
Sat 9 Sept Swanage Folk Festival
Sun 10 Sept Dartington Arts, Devon
Mon 11 Sept St Ives September Festival
Tues 12 Sept South Street, Reading
Mon 16 Oct Apex, Bury St Edmunds
Tues 17 Oct The Stables, Wavendon
Wed 18 Oct University of York
Mon 23 Oct Gala Theatre, Durham
Tues 24 Oct Waterside Arts, Manchester
Wed 25 Oct St George’s, Bristol
Thurs 26 Oct Cecil Sharp House, London
Fri 27 Oct Ludlow Assembly Rooms
