THE TRIPLE TREE

"Ghosts"

Cold Spring - 2008

CD

This project dates back to many years, at the time of the discussion board on Tursa's website, as Tony Wakeford manifested interest in writing music for some texts by M.R. James, England's greatest ghost stories writer and finest medievalist of his generation. It is now with the aid of Andrew King, another refined connoisseur of Albion's ancient culture and tradition, that such idea finally sees the light. The name chosen for this special collaboration is The Triple Tree, and features, besides the two English minstrels and current Sol Invictus main members, also a series of illustrious guests, such as Kris Force, John Murphy, Guy Harries, Renee Roses, Mercy Liao, M and Autumn Grieve.

The atmosphere of these recordings leads us back to medieval villages haunted by sinister presences and restless dead souls, as narrated by Andrew King's vibrating voice and Autumn's heavenly ones. Tony Wakeford's vocal contribution is limited to the only "Three Crowns", surely the best of the whole collection. The music is eerie and ancient, pure story-telling medieval folk that supports the melodies and tales of our very special minstrels. Don't expect Sol Invictus or standard song-structured neofolk, The Triple Tree is a completely different story, not so immediately easy to get into. The quality of "Ghosts" is high, even if towards the end the tracks tend to become a bit dispersive, thus distracting the listener's attention. The suggestion is to read the lyrics and references in the booklet while enjoying the music, in order to grasp a more complete vision of this interesting release.

- Simon V.

Myspace: http://www.myspace.com/thetripletree