Liverpool Sound and Vision Rating 8.5/10

The Romans had the best ideas, it is a sentiment argued by many, and when it comes to the idea of allowing the year a natural break the multitude cannot be wrong, for the Earth and humanity need to return to a time when we saw winter not as one to toil the soil and break our backs, but instead all ow the darkness to be one of stories and plans, to see it as a kind of magic of renewal; the Fallow Alchemy in which we should embrace so that rest turns to creativity and regeneration of spirit.

We need to relearn that nature does not bend to our will, we cannot keep abusing its trust and bounty, the same with human beings, we must adapt to understand that each person’s potential to do something amazing is stilted by the constant push to replant them in poisonous metaphorical soil, to keep taking cuttings, to take and eventual push past the point of exhaustion.

Taking time to rest is a natural state of life, it is not empty, unproductive, nor idle, no person should be made to feel guilty for resting when their hands have been at the capitalist machine and the unrepenting plough, and that is the sense of intelligent cause woven through the dramatic, soaring, intellectually driven songs from Will Finn & Rosie Calvert in their superb new album Fallow Alchemy.

Through measured but emotionally direct tracks such as Daddy Fox, The Bee Boy’s Song, The Trooper And The Maid, The Hornet And The Beatle, Weed’s Waltz Oranges In Bloom Beatie’s Waltz, and Lady, What Do You Do All Day, the pair tackle the concept of radical rest, the sense of embracing the Roman belief of a season requiring little but the flow of time till March came along; allowing the Earth to recover from Saturnalia or Christmas, till Winter had melted away.

The album is deep, it is magical as Rosie Calvert’s intense and stunning vocals add dimensions to the music of the excellent Will Finn, and whilst the album may have taken more than a season to come to fruition, the sense of Time is absolute, the natural world offering inspiration and the connection between the soul of humanity and the gospel of natural flourishing, and is exemplified by the delicious harmony that brings the two together.

A fantastic album, one of calm and essence, Fallow Alchemy.is a truth we must relearn before we burn out completely.

Will Finn & Rosie Calvert release Fallow Alchemy on January 31st.

Ian D. Hall