Swaddling Songs [PA]

Performer: Mellow Candle
Engineer: Derek Varnals; Kevin Fuller
Producer: Dave Hitchcock; Gruggy Woof
Distributor: Infinity Entertainment Gr

Notes: Mellow Candle: Clodagh Simonds (vocals, piano); Alison Williams (vocals). Personnel: David Williams , David E. Williams (vocals, acoustic guitar, electric guitar); Frank Boylan, Allison Williams (vocals). Audio Remasterer: Paschal Byrne. Liner Note Authors: Jon Wright; John Reed. Recording information: Tollington Park Studios (12/1971). The lone official Mellow Candle release from their early '70s heyday, SWADDLING SONGS disappeared upon release but eventually became a favorite of rare-record collectors. While classifiable as British Isles folk rock, the Irish quintet embraced a piano-driven prog-folk sound more in common with the Horslips and Comus than more traditional genre stalwarts like Fairport Convention. However, with lyrics about witches, unicorns, and all things druidic--courtesy of singer-lyricists Clodagh Simonds and Alison Williams--there is no mistaking that their hearts were clearly at the Rennaissance Faire. Simonds and Williams intertwine leads and trade thrumming harmonies on stand-outs such as "The Poet and the Witch," "Sheep Season," and album opener, "Heaven Heath," which also features a hypnotic accordion and harpsichord interplay. Despite its lack of commercial viability, SWADDLING SONGS remains a resonant, lost gem of the electric folk era.

Uncut (p.102) - 5 stars out of 5 -- "[R]arely does an album tread so expertly between psych, gothic folk and progressive rock. The girls' vocal harmonies are exquisite..." The Wire (p.42) - "For Mellow Candle, the wilderness offers an enchanted antidote to the crushing enervation of city life." Mojo (Publisher) (p.75) - "The highpoints of SWADDLING SONGS are among the most spine-tingling performances from anyone..." Mojo (Publisher) (6/01, p.153) - "...The quintessential acid-folk artefact bursting with baroque fatalistic tunes about unicorns, witches and...ravens crying 'Beware!'" Record Collector (magazine) (p.92) - 4 stars out of 5 -- "There isn't a simple song here: layering instruments and voices and always switching rhythms, these cats can make Steeleye Span sound like a stripped-down club act....Masterful."

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