When label curator Ian Hawgood was sounded out by electroacoustic nomad Wren a couple of years ago about releasing his latest opus, it meant fulfillment of a long-cherished desire to expand his remit into film alongside music.
Word from Home Normal of the arrival of Book of the Folded Forest, tied in with a headlining performance of Orla Wren‘s latest work at the imminent HomeNormalism festival. When label curator Ian Hawgood was sounded out by electroacoustic nomad Wren a couple of years ago about releasing his latest opus, it meant fulfillment of a long-cherished desire to expand his remit into film alongside music. His heart had been captured by the ‘tender organically produced electronic sounding music’ of The One Two Bird and The Half Horse (flau, 2009), and, for Hawgood, Wren was evidently The One. Book of the Folded Forest evolved into a project with a common collaborator, Urban9, who worked previously on Nicolas Bernier‘s Home Normal releases, as well as Hawgood’s own Enfants Ruraux. The label landlord decided ‘this would be the project to really play with the packaging and presentation, seeing just how far we could go.’
It presents in an 8-panel CD and DVD package, with unique Urban9-designed postcards and a large 175gsm uncoated poster, and features seven films by awarding-winning directors—Lumacell, Joey Bania, The New Honeyshade, Tippi Tillvind, Elise Baldwin, and Skinofthetree. The music is haunting and beautiful, tender fragmented vocals softly swooning over subtle melodic layers, attended by kindred spirits Danny Norbury, Aaron Martin, Paddy Mann, Jessica Constable, Eva Puyuelo, Keiron Phelan, Katie English, Lori Scacco, Joanna Joachim, Frederic Oberland, Barry Leake, Heidi Elva, and Cyril Secq.
Book of the Folded Forest is due for release in August (2013) on Home Normal. [Release page]
