The Hall of Einar Sunday Recommendation #50

Hello and welcome to my Sunday Recommendation. Thanks for joining me. Every week I read great wildlife and nature books, stumble upon engrossing websites and hear wonderful new music. This is my chance to bring you carefully curated recommendations of all the best I’ve experienced – every Sunday. If it’s folk, or independent, or about wildlife, nature or Orkney, I may love it, and so may you.

Shetland Suite by Astrid Williamson

The vinyl album which has been on my turntable the most in the last few weeks is Shetland Suite by Astrid Williamson. I’ve featured her music previously in my recommendations:

The Hall of Einar Sunday Recommendation #27

Shetland Suite is a collection of ten songs which link Astrid to her mother and her upbringing in Shetland. Most are sung in Shetland dialect, with one sung in Old Norse. There are songs of seafaring, spinning and folk tales, all performed with a hypnotic beauty. Here’s Astrid on the album:

The Shetland music I explore in Shetland Suite is a tribute to my late mother, Elizabeth (Betty) Goldsmith nee MacPherson, who passed away in 2022. My memories of her singing these songs are vivid and I wanted to spend time exploring them more deeply by creating my own impressions of them. All the pieces are traditional and collected by various archivists and musicians throughout the 20th century, exploring themes of island living where seafaring, spinning, folklore and crofting were typical. The exceptions being King Orfeo which is thought to be the earliest recorded version of the Orpheus & Eurydice tale, drawn from the singing of Kitty Anderson of Lerwick; Da Selkie Wife’s Sang written by Mary Ellen Odie, and the poem Shetlan’ by J. Peterson to which I wrote a new melody. Linguistically all are written in Shetland dialect except Unst Boat Song which is sung in Old Norse or Norn, the language common to Shetland prior to Scots linguistic primacy which began in the mid-16th century. Also included are traditional instrumental pieces I learned on the fiddle as a child whilst growing up in Shetland.

Here’s the video for Da Narrowa Wheel, a mesmerising work song to accompany spinning:

Here’s the video for one of my favourite songs on the Shetland Suite album, Da Selkie Wife’s Sang:

When the last light of day
Leaves the rim of the sea
And waves on the shingle
Make music to me
I’ll be there by the skerry
In the moon’s silvery light
To sing with the Selkie
A song to the night Oooo…
“We’ll come back Selkie-wife
For we’re waiting for you.”

I’ve enjoyed the ten albums Astrid has made, either solo or as part of Goya Dress a great deal. All have a deeply emotional, yearning quality which speaks to me like no other.

Another highlight is Unst Boat Song, which is Shetland’s oldest surviving song, an ancient chant about bad weather from the west and a blessing to sailors. Listen closely to the album and you will hear hand clapping, ambient electronica, and the natural sounds of sea and wind which accompany Astrid on keyboards and percussion. It’s an album about loss, love, memory and yearning in ten beautiful, sparkling, hypnotic pieces.

The album is available on Bandcamp – do take a listen. It’s also available on all your favourite music-stealing streaming services – choose yours from this link.

If you’d like to see Astrid Williamson performing Shetland Suite and more, her rescheduled tour dates for 2025 are here:

Shetland Suite is highly recommended. I can’t wait to play it again.

That’s it for this week. I’ll be back with more recommendations of things you might adore next Sunday. In the meantime, I wish you a great week.

More Sunday Recommendations