I don't listen to folk music that often--not enough 7/8 if you ask me. But when I do make exceptions to that rule, it's usually for a very strong artist, and UK based artist Seabuckthorn (né Andy Cartwright), especially on his new release The Silence Woke Me, is one such musician.
His style of music blends folk acoustic guitars with elements of psychedelia to create a darker, stranger, and more foreign sound than you'd expect. The album sounds like walking down a long-forgotten wooded path at a little past midnight--you lost your watch, otherwise you'd know when--with nothing but a sputtering torch and reflections from the slowly fading moon to bring you light, trying to read yet another page of Grimm's fairy tales, only to be stopped by an unidentifiable rustle in the bush beside you--or was it your imagination?--and feeling the slow chill of the unknown trickle down your spine as the night grows inexplicably colder and a fresh wind puts out the last of your torch leaving you all alone oh so very alone with no one around but the ever growing rustling oh why is it LOUDER STILL and
Editor's note: In the interest of brevity, we cut out part of Sarah's review. We also had her therapist put her on a stronger medication.
You can definitely tell Cartwright has grown since his last release. The compositions have become much longer and more complex, not to mention that he's taken up much more album space than he had before, all without losing any of his songwriting quality or originality. The result is an album that is much fuller, richer, and more immersive than his previous releases. There's no doubt that Cartwright proved he could set the mood with In Nightfall; The Silence Woke Me proves that he knows how to music that's engrossing on its own musical merits, not just from its startling textures.
I'll admit, there's nothing about this album that is notably standout. That being said, nothing is particularly bad, either--the album maintains a steadily enjoyable presence from beginning to end. If you're not already into the folk solo acoustic sound, The Silence Woke Me won't be the album that brings you around and changes your tastes. But if you do enjoy that type of music, make sure to grab this release--it's haunting and satisfying like no other.
