HEDERA
Hedera
Hedera is a Bristol-based chamber folk ensemble comprising five tightly-knit friends, Lula Austin, Maisie Brett, Tamsin Elliott, Beth Roberts and Isis Wolf-Light who have been playing together in this formation since meeting up together informally in 2020 around outdoor bonfires under the “Rule of Six” measures introduced during the Covid pandemic. Learning from each other, and enjoying tunes from a variety of traditions they discovered “a shared love of deep listening, slow playing and improvisation”. This has, over time, evolved into more adventurous collective writing and arranging, resulting in an eponymous debut album which presents as a collection of reimagined traditional material and newly composed post-classical pieces.
Hedera, commonly called ivy, the evergreen climbing or ground-creeping plant native to Europe, north-western Africa and Macaronisia is a truly apt name for a group whose influences and roots are so widespread, with the album showcasing musical influences from such wide-ranging locations as Bali, Brittany, Bulgaria, Ethiopia, Georgia, Ireland, Northumberland and Norway. There are highlights aplenty throughout, and around every corner you are likely to encounter spellbinding moments of musical ingenuity and bliss.
With more than half of the 11 tracks being originals, each composed by an individual and then completed by the rest of the band, the talent within the group is ubiquitous. Opening track, ‘Sterretjie’, an Afikaans term for coastal terns which translates as “little stars”, is a sparkling, bright piece which evokes a sense of flight as violins, clarinet and accordion weave patterns of sound around the double bass.
For this writer, ‘Waterwheel’ is a particular favourite. I had the pleasure of first hearing this back in 2024 whilst managing front of house in the Moot Hall at Folk East where Hedera delivered a memorable set. Composed by Tamsin Elliott this was the first original piece on which the band collaborated, and with its unpredictable melody shifts, at times slightly sombre, at others more spritely, a reflection of the Breton dance tunes upon which the tune draws. The mesmerizing ‘Sekar Jagat’ fuses Balinese rhythms with Western folk instrumentation , whilst Bulgarian song and dance from the Trakia region is represented by an interpretation of the traditional ‘Koga Me Mama Rodila’ which also features a delicious four-part harmony. The quintet’s collective voices also feature on a thousand-year-old Georgian hymn ‘Shen Khar Venakhi’, which morphs seamlessly into ‘She’s Sweetest When She’s Naked’ , a Northumbrian pipe-tune on the subject, despite the title, of drinking whisky,which features Maisie Brett’s unique Hardanger d’Amore, a 10-stringed bowed instrument custom made in Norway.
Two guests are welcomed for ‘The Long Awaited Rain’, composed by Tamsin, and also played at Folk East where she dedicated the tune to her parents who were running the real ale bar, namely her long-term collaborators Rowan Elliott and Sid Goldsmith. Contributing five-string fiddle and cittern, respectively, their contributions to this rhythmically intricate modal piece help to create the feeling of a sudden downpour at the end of a drought.
On this thoroughly captivating and atmospheric album, the interplay between the musicians is remarkable. Carving out an incomparable sound, Hedera will bring light into the darkest of existences.
Hedera