Laura Cannell - Quick Sparrows Over the Black Earth

The great thing about multi-instrumental solo artists is that they have a much greater freedom to explore aspects of traditional music that they want to focus on. Laura Cannell has a particular interest in elements of Medieval music and has celebrated this style in Quick Sparrows Over the Black Earth by performing each song in a Medieval church.

This choice of location really boosts each piece of music on the album as you can hear and feel the acoustics from the Church. This makes all of the music sound especially live and makes it feel genuine and vibrant compared to a recording studio.

The instruments that Laura plays are particularly aided by the acoustics, with both the fiddle and the recorder gaining an ectra element.

Particular tricks used on the instruments (using double barrelled recorders and a deconstructed bow on the fiddle) also add a new layer to these fast building delights. These tricks help to stop the instruments sounding lonely, so the music takes on new tones and new senses of involvement rather than just being a solo sound.

Each piece on the album is self described as ’atmospheric’ and they are all instrumentals, with either the fiddle or the double barrelled recorder. Being completely solo and just using a small sample of instruments allows Laura to really experiment and take different approaches in the music.

There are a variety of tempos and different emphases to the tunes, but all are loyal to their inspiration and Laura does a great job of creating beautiful pieces that many will find mesmerising and enchanting.