Liverpool Sound and Vision Rating 9/10
It might just go down as one of the most intelligently written and interesting albums of 2015 and yet the likelihood of it being pick’s leaders embracing Green issues with a healthy grasp of what is actually going on in the environmental world. Yet for GentleFolk’s new album Into The Greenwood, the diversion from the absolute and the real is something of an ear catching piece and one in which is not only musically sound but one that has that rare ability to teach and educate at the same time.
The folklore of the country is such that it is rooted in the forest, in the very trees, it is the hiding place for all witches, for the darkness and the creatures that dwell there, the forest is what gives us our nightmares and offers us hope and sanctuary in the face of overwhelming odds. It is the place where Kings have been killed, where they rest and where myths, legends and truth can be found all in one place. For GentleFolk it is also the source of immense inspiration in which they impart vast swathes of knowledge to a world that has stepped beyond its natural affinity with nature.
The collection of songs and poetic like interludes and interjections that make up the album are placed together as if Nigel Hoyle, Elizabeth Forrester, Sarah Lloyd and Ian Kennedy have spent forever making sure that the seeds they planted have come to fruition and spread their lofty ambitions at just the right time.
In songs such as The Elms, The Hidden People, Blood on The Oak and All For The Life of the Land the symbiotic nature that humanity once felt with both nature and the forest are explored and rediscovered and the intelligent thought that pushes them along is both wondrous and captivating.
This is a group of musicians who can say with certainty that they can see the wood for the trees, that the Forest has many tales to tell and as a species we have deviated far too far in the search for inner peace and prosperity and got them horribly mixed up and jumbled together till nothing truly resembles what should be. Into The Greenwood hopefully will be heard and taken notice for what it is, Folk of the highest order, a gratifying and courage filled listen.
Ian D. Hall