ALBUM REVIEW: Songs of Origin and Spirit – By the Spirits, Fellwarden, Mosaic, Osi and the Jupiter

February 20, 2021 Laura McCarthy

Four-way collaboration album Songs Of Origin and Spirit boasts a handsome line up of BY THE SPIRITS, FELLWARDEN, MOSAIC and OSI AND THE JUPITER. With each band contributing four songs, this is a lot of bang for your money, with the combination of folk influences weaving together a magical tapestry of songs.

Starting us off, Sleza is as mystically inspired as you’d expect from BY THE SPIRITS, a tranquil and paced affair that takes its time building you into it’s second half with ghostly atmosphere. Nothing is rushes and it allows the music to expand, letting you appreciate the spaces between the notes. Solitary I is more alert and livelier, bringing in the vocals and a more traditional folk feel. This is a comforting track, mostly due to that signature reverberation and choral tones. It’s echoing vocals are perfectly placed in this zone of swaying, breathy keys and simple guitar.

Switching back to a more synth driven, stoic piece we have Dead Stars. The overall feeling is very much of a deep and nostalgic look back, embracing something old and mystical. As enjoyable as it is, and losing no merit because of it, there is a slight eighties melodramatic sense that feels sincere if not a little cheesy. BY THE SPIRITS final song is the closing of Solitary II. It does some beautiful work with blended vocal and synth drones that really captivate. A piece with some strange ideas that feel spiritual and honest, deeper and more akin to prayer, there is an ancient atmosphere here that you’ll be completely swept in by if you are open to it.

Moving on to our second artist of the album, Call of the Pikes descends with a more orchestral feel. It’s a lovely arrangement that intertwines hopeful, sombre and communal feelings together to introduce FELLWARDEN’s season of the record; a bold, captivating start to this section of the journey. A Journey Without End introduces itself with some beautiful guitar work, building into a tune that takes on many tones and emotions. Always happy to hold back and let the piece breathe, A Journey Without End is a piece that seems to want to express how things will move at their own pace and unfold in their own time. Beautiful and wistful, sorrowful and bittersweet, this is a display that things are always changing.

Across the Wastwater is a much more mysterious affair, wading into more complex arrangements with a presence and a history to them. There is a lost and dangerous edge to this track, of something long forgotten, pulling you into its depths, that you’re unable to stop until you get to the end. Sol in Descent continues on with the soft droning and mystical uplifting, again another mournful song that pushes through with a weary spirit and a heavy heart. It tinkles towards it’s end, peaceful and looking for a final place to rest.

Shifting into the third instalment of the record, Wyntar Zoubar comes from a much colder place. It’s atmospheric, lonely horn calling from across the swirling air, the chill of which can be felt even more so when the vocals announce themselves. We are in a realm much darker with MOSAIC, a haunted place that allows the unfriendly parts of your mind take over. Der Nock retains the medieval tone and severity of its predecessor. What might feel like a magical, mystical beginning grows into something much more distressing and grandiose, a feeling of souls calling out, singing harmonically together eternally.

Birken, Tannen, Lowenzahn, translating to birds, firs, dandelions is a rough guitar tune that takes the rawness of the acoustic guitar and puts it into a space with compressed vocals that feel strange against the very natural sound of the strings. Another strange offering in this familiar but odd world of MOSAIC. Back into the chiming sounds of more antiquated instrumentation, The Emerald Woods also incorporates a band of voices, often out of sync with each other, layered and interjecting to give an impression of a mass of spirits, collected together as one but all individual in their own right. Sinister and unkind, this is not a place that wants to make you feel welcome. It’s richly evocative and dramatic, a great way to close this section of the album.

Soft ambience keeps the warm guitar company on Windwalker, as we move into our final realm of music with OSI AND THE JUPITER. The drone of the organ and the keys are heavy, beautifully chiming against the strings, and layering and interlacing to make something very comforting. It cuts deep (And Both Ways) is another song that uses more structure and traditional musical movements. The vocals, as with most on this record, are thickly muffled as if coming from a far away distance, or something found in a memory.

My Blood is This Dirt has the rough guitar feel that OSI AND THE JUPITER seems to be favouring on this record. It’s pretty and feels world weary, but does suffer a little from a slight sense of drag by this point on the album. Bringing this whole collaboration to a close, Oak Hurst embraces more bounce and gives you something you would want to join in with, both to sing but especially to howl along with certain phrases. It’s the most encapsulating piece for sure, as it focuses in on the community, the fellowship of folk music, the story telling not just of a person but to people.

All in all, this is a fair collection from four folk artists, putting forward some earnest and sombre tunes. All work well as a collective piece of work, moving from various styles and tones within the genre, but perhaps not each bands best individual output. Songs of Origin and Spirit is a perfect album for some self-reflection, be it if your looking for a place to morn, to find a darker world to inhabit for a time, or to embrace the sense of nostalgia and community folk music inspires.

Rating: 6/10