Genre:  Traditional Folk / Experimental Folk

01 Travellers Two
02 Evening Wings
03 Stoikite
04 Barrowlands
05 Full Moon
06 Pilgrims Return
07 Henbane
08 Water Divining
09 Bani Caapi
10 Mermaids Call
11 Laureola

A quick internet search will detail the specifics of the arrival of ‘Travellers Two’ and its irony – that it is a recording consummated in lieu of the travelling duo of Tau Emerald, Tara Burke and Sharron Kraus. The result of their misfortune fortunes us with growth from earthen folk, loamy and moist, a dark traditional seed into strange foliage.

Natural tones of the flute breathe a leaping tune which unfurls a round ‘tween the duo, lilting vocal harmonies dewed and slightly off-key, accompanied by steel strings brushed like droplets from a leaf; the music shimmers wetly and mysteriously and continues a recondite and natural theme therein the remainder of the album. Bells purl with crystalline chimes, rivulets of tintinnabulation, their richness scintillating as it is naturally chaotic. Flutes flutter and hoot like night owls, squawks of other mimicked and unidentifiable avian-life in the night air, all summoned to percussive ritualism of skinned drum and rattled beans, organic magic, night magic.

Vocals are sparse as is traditional song-form in ‘Travellers Two’, but they do feature, albeit in minor steps, shadowed in subtle dis-chord and direction, though just as lush and rich as the undulations of the instrumental tracks. The production is without fault, intimately pristine and raw simultaneously, capturing the uncertain umbrage of the boscage in all its verdant glory. The album is an unwonted jewel of experimental folk, one requiring an oilskin if afraid to be out creeping naked in the woods smeared in ochre and blood.

A gatefold digipak of satin cardstock is artfully illustrated by Stephen John Clark, whose lines and whorls of flora and facial feature are stained in psychedelic water colours as tasteful accompaniment to the music. The liner notes are sparse but sinuous in typography, the disc recessed in the Important Records card sleeve featuring other artists from the label.