Songs of Separation was a music project created in the aftermath of the 2014 Scottish independence referendum to explore through the medium of music ideas of separation. It was organised by double-bass player Jenny Hill and brought together ten female folk musicians from Scotland and England for one week in June 2015 on the Isle of Eigg. The resulting album won the "Best Album" category in the 2017 BBC Radio 2 Folk Awards.
Project
The idea for Songs of Separation came when double bass player and composer Jenny Hill was living on the Isle of Eigg, one of the four Small Isles of the Inner Hebrides, off the west coast of Scotland. Travelling a lot between her home in Eigg and her work in England, Hill reflected on the different ways that the issues around Scottish independence were presented and received in the two countries. She felt that the adversarial approach caused people to forget the bigger issues that affect everyone. She was also concerned that folk music was less concerned with current affairs and social commentary than it had been in earlier decades.
She decided to create a music project comprising Scottish and English musicians to explore the concept of separation. Her ethos was to treat the musicians fairly and to find the resources to pay them properly. A former charity director, Hill set about securing sponsorship, and gained support from Creative Scotland, Arts Council England and Enterprise Music Scotland.
Hill selected a dream team of ten musicians, five from Scotland and five from England, some of the most well-known musicians in the genre including Karine Polwart and Eliza Carthy, some earlier in their careers, and was able to secure the entire list. They came together on Eigg in June 2015, with three days to create the arrangements and three days for recording. The only prerequisite was for each of the musicians to arrive with three songs from her own tradition exploring the theme of separation in any way she chose. They stayed together in the island's Glebe Barn hostel, and recorded in the Eigg Studio. Eigg film-maker Ben Cormack of Picarus created short films of each day's activities. Andy Bell of Hudson Records, Sheffield was the recording engineer on Eigg, and co-produced the album with Hill.
The music reflects its creation on the Isle of Eigg, with its turbulent history. The two a capella tracks were recorded in the island's Cathedral Cave, used for secret Roman Catholic services during the 18th century, which can only be accessed at low tide. Rowan Rheingans' song Soil and Soul was influenced by the island's legend of the Big Women and a visit to the Loch nam Ban Mora (Lake of the Big Women).
The first two tracks of the Songs of Separation album, "Echo Mocks the Corncrake" / "It Was A' for Our Rightfu' King" were released as a digital single on 20 November 2015, followed by the full album in January 2016. The album release was accompanied by a film The Making of Songs of Separation.
Musicians
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Album
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Reception
The Songs of Separation album was the winner of the "best album" category in the 2017 BBC Radio 2 Folk Awards. This category was decided by a popular vote, so it was a significant achievement for a short-term project with a previously unknown name to win against four established performers in the genre. The album was also nominated for the "Best Album" category in the Scots Trad Music Awards 2016, and the track "Echo Mocks the Corncrake" for "Best Traditional Song" in the 2017 BBC Radio 2 Folk Awards.
The Daily Telegraph included the album in "The best folk music albums of 2016", saying "the harmonies are gorgeous and the lyrics thought-provoking". In The Guardian, Robin Denselow gave the album four stars and called it "a varied, thoughtful set that stays well clear of political sloganeering." Daniel Rosenberg of the Huffington Post described the album as "moving" and included it in his list of the forty best albums worldwide of 2016.
More detailed analysis was offered by the specialist titles. On Folk Radio UK, Helen Gregory's detailed review comments on the marginalisation of women's voices in politics and the particular contribution of each track to the project's theme, concluding that it is a "superlative and essential record". FATEA Magazine also has a detailed track-by-track analysis, and praises the "brazen and multifarious approach to separation", polished arrangements, and thorough research, calling the album "immensely successful".