New Music 2018 - Part 24 - Fara - Times From Times Fall

Times From Times Fall is the second full length release by Scottish folk four-piece Fara, all of whom are from Orkney, and is the follow-up to 'Cross the Line' (2016) that I mentioned here.
All the music on this record is composed by the band, sometimes co-writing at others individually, and many are tunes. The final track 'Maxwell's Light' is a tribute to Scottish scientist James Clerk Maxwell, arguably most famous for his unifying theory of electromagnetic radiation published in 1861-2. A true Victorian polymath he was also a fine engineer and the inventor of light-fast colour photography.
Three of the four songs are poems by Orcadian writers set to new tunes by the band. The fourth is a tribute to a lost relative.

Fara - Times From Times Fall (Fara Music, FARA002, 19 October 2018).

Fara - Times From Times Fall

• The Port Polka / Rognvald Ritch, The Little / The Shore
• Speir Thoo The Wast Wind
• At The Ebb
• 7, 8, Nein / I'll Do It Last Friday
• Song (Love Gathers All)
• Miss Rosa Sermanni Holmes / Vintage Pals / Upside Down Under
• Frances' Day
• See It All
• The Depliction / My Favourite Cow / Farewell To The Prid
• Simple Dirt / The Fighter
• The Road Home
• Maxwell's Light

In my opinion absolutely everything on this album is well worth listening to. The lead release taken from it is 'Speir Thoo The Wast Wind', a poem by Christina Costie set to music by Fara. It is available to listen on Spotify here.

New Music 2015 - Part 59 - Fara

Although not titled as such, here begin my thoughts on Cambridge Folk Festival 2015: it was first held in 1965 and, as this run is unbroken, this was its 51st edition. It was my first, however, despite the fact that we are the same age to within a matter of six weeks!
The music started 6pm on Sunday, using just Stage 2, for the early birds. That is not to say that the quality was in any way compromised. The opening act of the festival was a recently constituted five-piece hailing from Orkney and that is Fara.

Four of the members play fiddle, Jennifer Austin plays piano.

Jeana Leslie takes most of the lead vocals.

Their début release is the self-titled mini-album, released 20 December 2014. I don't usually buy music on impulse at festivals and suchlike. This was an exception. Listen below, then buy it.
It did cross my mind that this standard could be hard to sustain across four stages over the next three days. I soon forgot all about that, and almost everything else beyond my immediate surroundings. That is the hallmark of a really good festival.