Wild Gods: The Glorious Abysmal review – truly fascinating songs born of tweed-beating and psychedelic trips

(Wren Cathedral)
Inspired by communal Hebridean Gaelic song and ceremonial music, these reels and ballads reveal the fascinating proximity of post-rock and folk rock

A thick, distant rumble, the metallic sheen of an accordion drone and a woman singing a traditional Gaelic lament for the dead: these open Keening, the first track on the most fascinating folk-adjacent set of the summer. Wild Gods is a new project from Argyll’s Jamie Livingstone, a regular collaborator with the Scottish electronic producer Barry Can’t Swim. This release is inspired by the waulking songs of the Hebrides: communal songs traditionally sung by women as they beat and softened tweed before mechanisation transformed the industry’s rhythms.

With Gaelic archival recordings and melodies rooted in Celtic ceremonial music also being stirred into this bubbling brew, these eight tracks reveal the occasional, fascinating proximity between post-rock and folk-rock. After Keening, 10-minute Carlene’s Pin marries Susannah Stark’s gorgeous Gaelic vocals to clanging Bad Seeds guitars, folk fiddle, and a bassline recalling Godspeed You! Black Emperor at their most defiantly uncheery. Rest and Be Thankful, named after both a classic Scottish reel and a famous A83 viewpoint where couples are known to meet to have sex, is deliberately built up as a tender ballad, before moments of joyous folk dance strut and erupt; a shimmering interlude follows. Ortha, named after a Celtic incantation, reflects another of Livingstone’s inspirations: a transformative ayahuasca experience.
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