Composer Paul Mosley presents his new EP of ghostly, junk orchestra, folk-pop stories WINTERTIDE.
Reuniting with his astonishing and ever expanding Red Meat Orchestra – last heard on Mosley’s game changing 2016 Folk opera The Butcher (**** R2, **** The Quietus, **** Resonance.FM) The EP is both intimate and epic, telling tales of kindness and darkness told in Mosley’s ‘Gorgeous, honeyed voice’ (Q Magazine).
Wintertide – The epic title track updates the classic English Folk Carol ‘I Saw Three Ships’… casting Red Meat Orchestra regulars Jack Harris, Esther Dee and Josienne Clarke as the three ships’ captains, stranded when the wintertide freezes, trapping their ships in the ice.
A new Mosley original in the classic folklore style this tale takes ‘The Butcher’s ghost story template and adds a classic Seventies singer-songwriter vibe full of feather light acoustic guitar, gorgeous group harmonies, Zappa-esque insistent percussion and growling bass saxophones. Harris’s 3rd Captain tries to bargain with the furies who rule the oceans to spare his men – but will the fates be kind…?
White Crow – is a forbidden love song – about not being able to be with the one you love on Christmas day – Mosley imagines he is the crow, flying to his love, camouflaged against the snow but ready to be found. Upcoming acapella folk singer Catherine Earnshaw joins BBC Folk Awards winner Josienne Clarke on chorus vocals amid Mosley’s plaintive piano, haunting woodwinds and beautiful retro synths.
The Ice and Snow – sees Mosley alone with his piano and (very Christmassy!) euphonium skills. A tale of kindness to (foreign?) strangers in the harsh winter months that may melt away come the brighter days… An allegory – in true folk tradition – for our times.Wintersun – described by Mosley as ‘An exercise in smart-arse time signatures’ but in fact a tale of the unkindness of unrequited love. The warm acoustics, layered harmonies and sky scraping saxophone bring to mind West Coast Americana and hazy, dreamy 70’s folk pop.
Is It Enough (Merry Christmas) – bring on the strings! An Elbow-esque love song for artists, a “Thank you for putting up with my shit’ song apologizing for the same tiny flat full of instruments and note books that STILL isn’t decorated as another Christmas rolls around – but definitely will be, honest – soon – just as soon as this next project is written, I mean recorded, I mean released, and then the video, and then the tour and…. God knows how (or why!) they put up with it. But thank the Furies that they do…
Mosley hosts a launch gig at Camden’s beloved THE GREEN NOTE on Thursday November 16th, with special guests Jack Harris and Raevennan Husbandes (The Moulettes) and maybe a (Red) Meaty additional guest or two? https://www.greennote.co.uk/production/paul-mosley-ep-launch/
As well as launching the EP the gig is celebrating Mosley’s 10 years as a solo artist and will feature music from all of his releases so far and his next project with Raevennan coming 2018.
Additionally Mosley has been invited to play at the WINTERTIDE FESTIVAL Wintertide Festival in his home town Hartlepool on the 24th November.