Hearth

Multi­instrumentalist Mairearad Green’s latest album is inspired by the women and landscapes of Coigach, a peninsula in Wester Ross in the Scottish Highlands. It’s a tough environment characterised by crofting and fishing, but culturally a very rich landscape too. It is also home to Green’s family history, which provides the opportunity to explore some semi-personal narratives ripe for the telling.

Hearth marks a new, exciting, direction for Green. The release is a collection of five limited edition 12” singles: five tracks consisting of ten tunes. It’s a fertile mix of songs and tunes, all self-penned by Green, filtered through producer Mike Vass’ electronic lens. ‘It Takes Me/Jessie & Alice’ makes effective use of Green’s haunting, ethereal vocals, while ‘The Kelp Makers/Coigach Lass’ has a sprightly, bright and vibrant rhythm, paced by Vass’ percussion. Closer ‘Walk on Girl/Time Before Roads’ is tentative and confident in equal measures. Throughout, the songs feel like echoes of the past, or maybe distilled dreams of future memories. An inventive, passionate and thoughtful evocation of Green’s background and landscapes. Elegant and rugged, timeless and current: a treat that will linger long.