The debut EP from British/American singer The Chantress was released recently. It’s a haunting trio of traditional Christmas songs, perfect for the quiet and dark winter nights ahead.
The way Laura found me was quite interesting. Knowing that Celtic band Clannad were playing their final gigs a year ago, she wondered if there were any Clannad tribute bands and “typed Clannad tribute” into Google. What she stumbled across was my blog called Tribute to Clannad, and decided there and then that I was the right person to work on her recordings!
After an introductory Zoom call, we worked on the EP over the Autumn this year, communicating over WhatsApp and Zoom.
Laura then came over to the UK to record the vocals with me. Her vocals are stunning – just listen to Silent Night, which is done with no words and no instrumentation. Just her vocals, layered up into many tracks.
She had done a demo of Silent Night which had plenty of ideas. We took the best of the ideas and added some news ones, building the song from a simple first verse to a swirling bath of vocals in the third verse.
The Holly King was the song that took the longest (there’s always one!) – but it turned out beautifully, using a mixture of traditional and ambient instrumentation, as well as some slightly discordant feedback guitars in the final verse.
It’s probably the song that has the most of the Clannad/Enya influence.
The Longest Night is a popular hymn (O Come O Come Emmanuel), with the lyrics changed to be more about the winter solstice and the feel of Christmas.
I’ve always loved the song and the melody – and Laura’s new lyrics fit beautifully.
The goal is for Laura to release her first album next year, so watch this space.
You can support The Chantress by buying her EP on Bandcamp here.
