Liverpool Sound and Vision Rating * * * *
A soul that’s driven, cannot be tamed.
We have lived, and continue to do so, through times that the once thought Chinese proverb would impel fear into those that were said to be cursed by its very utterance; and yet without those interesting times, how do people become inflamed, inspired, by events so that they may add to the world a beautiful sense of balance. The soul that’s driven to explore, who is not put off or swayed by the prospect of interesting times, pulls the crowds and the belief with them; And So We Gather at the alters and the sanctuaries on offer to praise them.
The sensual and scintillating debut album from the celebrated Gaelic recording artist Kim Carnie, And So We Gather, is an album that frames a indomitable narrative of language, of highlighting the importance of linguistic style and dialect, whilst delving deeply into the production of many souls speaking from the same modern folk hymn book, in unison, together by design and by the will of them all to capture the essence of communication.
With a guest list that includes Donald Shaw on piano, as well as sitting in the producer’s chair, Innes White, James Lindsay, James Mackintosh, Julie Fowlis, Karen Matheson, Kathleen MacInnes, Megan Henderson, Calum MacCrimmon, Alyn Cosker, Charlie Stewart, Iain Hutchison, John Lowrie, Kadialy Kouyate, Matt Carmichael, and the Scottish Session Orchestra, the scale of ambition is not only to be applauded, or even admired, but exemplified; for language deserves, should insist upon being heard in all its forms and states that are appropriate, and speculative, and wild and untamed.
Inspiration can strike from anywhere, it is how you utilise the feeling when it hits you, and as tracks such as the album opener She Moves Me, Murt na Ceapaich, Laoidh na h-Oidhche, Disanthairne Ghabh Mi Mulad, and Loving You all convey the beauty and fluid nature of music and language when performed together, the gathering of inspiration can be felt as immersive, detailed, forthcoming and without apology; in its true reveal it is a detail of examination and culture, and one that must be preserved lest we find hegemony and control of language a damnation against us all.
An album of wild groove, And So We Gather to pay homage to the spirit of the uncontrollable and the thrill of the storm of words; never to bow to the rigid belief of those who would impose language as a tool of oppression, only to feel enormous pleasure from being serenaded by another’s tongue.
Kim Carnie’s And So We Gather is out now and available from Càrn Records.
Ian D. Hall