Legendary album by this Irish folk prog band, which featured the truly excellent vocals and harmonies of Clodagh Simonds and Alison Williams. The former also contributed on some of the early Mike Oldfield albums, back when he was a progressive force to be reckoned with. And speaking of progressive – this is one colourful album! The arrengements are complex, with lots of changes – and inspirations from fullblown progressive rock and classical music as well. Give it some time, and it will certainly grow on you – a lot. Simply put: This album features flawless folk prog all the way. And those melodies… my god, how haunting can music possibly get?! Take ‘Silversong’, for instance: The vocals are simply awesome, and will surely transport you to another world – a much better one. The same can be said of masterful, melancholic masterpieces like ‘Messenger Birds’ and ‘Reverend Sisters’. And what about ‘Sheep Season’, which is probably my absolute favourite? It’s certainly the most progressive song on the whole album, with its complex arrangements and really dark undertones, but it all flows beautifully. You will also find incredibly catchy numbers here, like ‘The Poet and the Witch’ and ‘Dan The Wing”. The latter features such cozy lyrical lines as ‘The Sinful Sea of Hell will be Dan the Fin’s dominion!’ Mellow Candle was obviously more than a little obsessed with witches, demons and all kinds of pagan stuff, and why the… hell not? This is fun, and one cannot help but smile when listening to this stuff. At least, that is the case for myself. The album even features a truly funky (!!) number in ‘Lonely Man’, and good heavens if it isn’t catchy! As you can understand: I truly love this album. Bottom line: You won’t get bored with this!
Mellow Candle – Swaddling Songs (Deram 1972)
