Liverpool Sound and Vision Rating * * * *
The first time you heard the call of the owl as you wandered wearily through the forest or local woods after the dark had settled in and nature just got that little bit more real, would have arguably been the moment when you realised just how vulnerable you were to your emotions, that sound, that Huam as the Scottish language would describe it, is enough to raise the hairs on the back of your neck and make you understand that you are not the master of your environment, that the world is bigger and infinitely more complex that you first gave it credit.
The sound of the Huam is not one to terrify, instead it should be seen as illumination, instruction, as the moment when the world adds the voice of one of nature’s interpreters to your lexicon and vocabulary.
For the acclaimed trio Salt House, Jenny Sturgeon, Ewan MacPherson and Lauren MacColl, nature is arguably its reason for being true to the magic they portray as their collection of songs brings that sense of language and environment in beautiful balance to the listener’s ear. The natural world, even in the political dogma of the age, still resonates, still gives meaning to those who know where to look, and how to feel accordingly when a strange call of the wild catches them unawares; and in Huam, the reputation that Salt House have established is framed to the point of endearing musical phrases entwinned with a glossy feel of performance.
Across tracks such as All Shall Be Still, William and Elsie, the fierceness that stokes the fires in Hope Is The Thing With Feathers, The Disquiet and the heart-breaking purity of Union of Crows, Salt House influence with charm and sincerity the listener’s point of view with the gentle ease of music played and the feeling of comfort that the natural world is close at hand.
An album of close memories, of finding that the sound of the owl that hunts at night is one that reminds us not to be afraid, but to accept that there are places, possessions of nature, that we cannot see, but to which we can still admire the thought of its beauty.
Salt House release Huam on the 20th March on Hudson Records.
Ian D. Hall