JANE WEAVER - The Fallen By Watch Bird (Expanded Edition) - CD [JAN 23]

CD

On its 15th anniversary The Fallen By Watch Bird is reissued as a special expanded edition with The Watchbird Alluminate, featuring reinterpretations by Demdike Stare, The Focus Group, Anworth Kirk, Emma Tricca, and others. Originally released on Jane Weaver’s own label Bird Records, it is a tapestry of psychedelic femme-folk-rock drawing influence from Eastern European children's cinema, Germanic kunstmärchen, 70s television music and 80s electronic scores. Steeped in synths and mysticism, this fully realised conceptual record weaves imagery of absent sailors, telekinesis, bird messengers and white witchcraft alongside pagan themes of death and rebirth. A formative masterpiece from her ever-growing discography, The Fallen By Watch Bird continued to build on the themes of its predecessor (Like An Aspen Leaf) and innovative production techniques developed in her earlier releases.

Presented across seven chapters, it features performances from Septième Soeur Wendy Flower of the Wendy & Bonnie folk-pop duo who released 1969’s Genesis, Lisa Jen – Welsh vocalist on Gruff Rhys’ Candylion – lost American folk-pop singer Susan Christie, and Bosnian folk musician and violinist Behar.

As accompanying extras, The Watchbird Alluminate continues with a sense of wonderment through explorations into drone, psychedelia, folk and shapeshifting soundscapes. Inspired by post-war cinematic interpretations and the traditions of chronicling folk stories, Weaver reimagines the original release with spoken-word narrative from Susan Christie reinterpreted by Ghost Box’s The Focus Group; elsewhere Bird label artists Emma Tricca and falsetto soloist Magpahi offer their own interpretations. The release evokes David Lynch’s Twin Peaks on Whispers of Winter with Wendy Flower, alongside alluring vocal moments reminiscent of Vashti Bunyan (Turning In Circles ft. Emma Tricca) and Kate Bush (My Soul Was Lost & No One Saved Me ft. Magpahi).

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