Brave Timbers began as a solo project for Newcastle-based multi-instrumentalist Sarah Kemp. ‘Hope’ is their second album following ‘For Every Day You Lost’ (2010), which quickly sold out its limited pressing.
Five years seems like quite a gap, but there’s no question it was worth the wait. Recorded in collaboration with Andrew Scrogham, it was recorded in a Victorian concert hall in Salford. But this isn’t a work that’s draped in any nostalgia for the place in which it was recorded, and nor does it strive to sonically recreate scenes of noble labour, the glorious heyday of the industrial north or England’s past as depicted in Hovis adverts.
Pairing piano and violin, the eleven tracks call to mind an altogether different English landscape, far from the city smogs of any decade. The soft, rolling piano and warm strings evoke green meadows and dappled sunlight in ancient, fruit-rich orchards, particularly on the first track, ‘Sun through Leaves’. Long, hazy days spent lazily, content to simply ‘be’. Everything about the short, gentle compositions is mellow, tender; it’s the aural equivalent of rolling hills and unspoilt scenery, verdance, tranquillity, a perfect idyll.
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It’s music that’s heartwarming, relaxing and understated. It conjures images of a life you’ll likely never live, but in its simple elegance, it can transport you to a space of inner beauty. Close your eyes, breathe deep, and enjoy.
Brave Timbers Online
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