Waterson:Carthy's latest album Holy Heathens and The Old Green Man is a rousing mix of ritual and religion, customs and carols, savage imagery and soaring songs of celebration which come together in magnificent style.
1 New Year Carol - Residue2 Sugar Wassail
3 St George
4 May Song
5 Christ Made A Trance
6 The Falling Tear
7 Cherry Tree Carol
8 Reaphook and Sickle
9 Jack Frost
10 While Shepherds Watched
11 On Christmas Day It Happened
12 Time To Remember The Poor
13 Jacobstowe Wassail
14 Awake Awake
15 Diadem
16 Jolly Old Hawk
• "Eliza’s singing of her uncle Mike’s 'Jack Frost' is simply stunning. You should buy a copy of Holy Heathens for everyone you know."
The Living Tradition
• "Beautifully played and sung and illuminated by Martin Carthy’s scholarly sleeve notes." **** The Guardian
• "Their singing elevates the soul. Eliza Carthy has rarely performed more evocatively than on her uncle Mike Waterson’s 'Jack Frost' and Tim van Eyken’s version of 'On Christmas Day It Happened So' makes you shiver." **** Mojo
• "... Whether it’s the presence of The Devil’s Interval, the inspirational nature of the material or the power of the seasons, Norma Waterson and Martin Carthy sound positively reinvigorated in the midst of it all, their voices and total conviction immediately identifiable. It’s a genuinely uplifting collection with fire in its belly." fRoots
This is the album that Waterson:Carthy have been wanting to make for a long time. In 1965, their forerunners The Watersons released the landmark album "Frost and Fire - A Calendar of Ritual Magical Songs", and the concept continues to fascinate them. With "Holy Heathens" they have eclipsed even that seminal album, amd the sound is a resoundingly full blooded one. The resonant ensemble singing is bolstered by The Devil’s Interval, a young and exciting new vocal trio of Lauren McCormick, Emily Portman & Jim Causely. They are further accompanied by guitar, fiddle, mandolin, brass and percussion. This fuller sound harks back to The Watersons and Blue Murder, but surpasses them for sheer excitement and thrills.
In "Holy Heathens and the Old Green Man", Waterson:Carthy have produced their best album to date - no question about it.
Norma Waterson ~ vocals, triangle
Eliza Carthy ~ vocals, fiddle, mandolin
Martin Carthy ~ vocals, guitar
Tim van Eyken ~ vocals, melodeons
with
The Devil's Interval ~ Jim Causley ~ vocals, Emily Portman ~ vocals, Lauren McCormick ~ vocals
and
Martin Brinsford ~ percussion
Alice Kinloch ~ trombone, tuba
Tom Allan ~ trumpets
Oliver Knight ~ cello
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