THE lost words - Spell songs
In 2018 Seckou was invited to join a stellar line-up of musicians for a project inspired by the book The Lost Words by Robert Macfarlane and Jackie Morris.
“We need new dreamers to find a new way, new stories to shape the future, new songs, always new songs.”
Jackie Morris
“There are songs here that would live with me for the rest of my years, even if I’d had no part in their making.”
Robert Macfarlane
In 2018 Folk by the Oak Festival commissioned Spell Songs, a musical companion piece to The Lost Words; a celebrated ‘spell book’ rich with poetic rhythms and imagined birdsong that naturally invited a musical response. Spell Songs gathered together eight remarkable musicians whose music engages deeply with landscape and nature, to respond to the creatures, art and language of The Lost Words. Alongside Seckou in the line-up were Karine Polwart, Julie Fowlis, Kris Drever, Kerry Andrew, Rachel Newton, Beth Porter and Jim Molyneux. Spell Songs allowed these acclaimed and diverse musicians to weave together elements of British folk music, Senegalese folk traditions, and experimental and classical music to create an inspiring new body of work.
Spell Songs went on to perform sell-out concerts at major venues and festivals around the UK, culminating in an appearance at Folk by Oak Festival, to coincide with the release of the Spell Songs album, 14 songs which capture the essence of The Lost Words.
TOUR DATES:
thelostwords.org/live
Gallery:
