Diversity meet divergence, as Rae beckons in new vistas of cross-fertilisation to the fecund fields of the Scottish tradition.

Release Date : 21st June 2023

Label : Mere Cat Records

Format : CD / digital

Record releases are like buses, tending to all arrive at once or not at all. June seemed to be the former, with July looking to be the latter. Lord knows, it’s hard enough, in the glut, to make up excuses for tardiness in due delivery of opinion, so I’m going to come clean. I knew nowt about this release last month, until it was launched. Now, with time to spare, I have the time to seek and explore, delighted I did so, as this is a quite marvellous offering, and as different a spin on Scottish trad based melodies as has yet been tried.

Unorthodox instrumentation skin the cat anew

Freya Rae was, I thought, a name new, but it transpires she isn’t quite the stranger I thought, having cropped up on Iain Fraser’s Kōterana, two years back, then playing flute. I don’t know whether it was ordinary flute or the silver Boehm system flute, but it is that intriguing instrument she employs here, along with clarinet and whistles. Her tunes all reflect a strong Scottish traditional melodicism, but that is where any comparison with most of her peers diverges. Hence the title of this record, as she delves, through unorthodox instrumentatiomn, to skin the cat with new and intriguing soundscapes.

Aided and abetted by Siannie Moodie on clarsach and Tim Lane on percussion, together with some occasional guest appearances, the overall sounds more of Africa or the far orient, Polynesia even, than a dreich day in Dundee. Add in some muted electronica, Moodie again, and it comes out all rather spesh. And did I say that one of Lane’s percusive devices is the steel tongue drum? Now you know, I know you’re in, if only to learn how the darn thing gets played. (Bad news, it isn’t tongue bashing of animal hides, the tongue is more as in a shoe, relating to grooves (“tongues”) cut into a steel drum, then hit with a mallet. Disappointed? Don’t be, this cousin of a steel pan drum is used sparingly and splendidly.)

brooding intent

Proceedings start with Alderbank, a slow burn that starts with brooding intent, as the percussion and plucked harp bed in, ahead Rae filtering off into a sinuous melody. Her flute is joined by the fiddle of guest, another Rae, Eryn, whose surname suggests more than just a shared love of music, and the two instruments play, initially, in unison. It is a gentle and calming combination. The rhythm becomes more urgent, ahead the lead instruments billowing off with a pell mell precision. With the clarsach competing to keep up, and then taking the reins, it is a vibrant frenzy. A triptych of three original tunes by the bandleader, it ends up on a flourish more sun dance than schottische, and it couldn’t be a better introduction.

oddly compulsive

Owlets picks up with much the same combination, if within a more rigid pattern, all encased within the organic clanking of the tongue drum. I get an image, a trio of mechanically driven wooden owls, dancing awkwardly in unison, which may not be the design, but is oddly compulsive, once seeded. A further guest, Fraser Fifield, adds some low whistle, but the honours here go mainly to Lane, who plays as if his kit, or his hands, were on fire. Fifield then sticks around to blow some soprano saxery into Aye Yew.

This starts with a near medieval cadence, his tones breathing some jazzier fumes into the concoction. It is a collage of conflicting sounds that meld and merge with finesse. A five piece for this, the second Rae is busy for this one too, slipping in some feisty fiddle. A bridging section connects the paired tunes, the eye between two halves of a joyous storm, makes sure Moodie is gainfully employed, with the whole a refreshing spin on preconceptions.

Willow begins with a slow swirling come hither of flute. Should you be wondering the significance of the silver or the Boehm, this is to differentiate from the flutes, often wooden, that populate more often folk and roots music. This is more the concert variety, think Hoffnung, of concert halls. Not that you’d know it, such is the rainforest ambience that permeates, especially on this track. The tongue drums and clarsach flutter in and about the main melody, with Moodie beginning to slot in some sly seamless FX, surreptitiously and effectively, a slow unfolding rumble of atmosphere.

Tootling authentically

Myrtle, another set of three, starts as the most obviously Scottish construction of the album, Rae’s flute tootling authentically over a delicate clarsach acompaniment. This could be one of the many harp and flute duos that abound, were it not for the sound of crashing cymbals and sansula, a kalimba variant played with the thumbs, adding extra frissons. There are also some eerie and ethereal shimmers of electronica. As it breaks into the traditional Watchmaker, the middle melody and the first of the record not written by Rae, Lane gets stuck in with his sticks and Rae blows some Tull-like breathiness into her tone, before Moodie wrests control and attention with a sparklesome hoedown on her harp, for Rae to leap onto, with relish. And the return of the echoey electronic ripples that so enlivened the first of the three tunes.

a whiff of the middle east

Can Xaco sees Rae swap from flute to clarinet. Against the percussion, this imbues a whiff of the middle east, for the full casbah. Double tracked whistle, also from Rae, adds to the exotica and new avenues of exploration are suddenly opened up. The most experiemental of the tracks, it is also one of the more instantly accessible.

This leaves the final track, Beetroot, to round things up, which is does, in two sections, via the signature tongue drum laying down the template, clarsach providing once more the complementary dancing ripple that has proved so engaging. Rae is again playing a whistle, with some further soprano saxophone from Fifield, which is then perfect as they all break into only the second non-original of the set, Matt Seattle’s Willie Henderson’s Jig. This pairs the clearly traditional style of the tune with the percussion, which finds, if not polyrhythms, pararhythms where you least expect them. Plus that electronic basement drone, as Moodie’s fingers cascade simultaneously over her strings and keyboard.

Tweaks the expected

This is terrific. Praise be that I found it and praise Rae, Moodie and Lane for putting it all together and out there. Rae for the tunes and, presumably idea, the band for the arrangements. Lane also produces, I note, As said, not quite like anything else currently available, this further enriches the rich diversity of what can be done when you tweak the expected and manage the divergence the set is so rightly named after. Recommended!

Here’s the opener, Alderbank, performed in the studio (and revealing the tongue drum).

Freya Rae online : Website / Facebook / Instagram

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