"Hedera are a band of five tightly knit friends violinist Lulu Austin, violin/viola player Maisie Brett, violinist/double bassist Beth Roberts, accordionist/harpist Tamsin Elliott, and clarinettist Isis Wolf-Light named after the Latin botanical term for ivy. The group's debut album combines influences from Bulgaria to Bali, Ireland to Georgia, and establishes its mood of knotted, hypnotic locked groove from its opening track, Sterretjie (named after an Afrikaans word for the coastal tern bird, which also means little stars)."
"Sekar Jagat (Balinese for flower of the universe) twitches sweetly into life on prepared harp and plucked strings, then makes hay with a melody originally written for gamelan; on Shen Khar Venakhi, a 1,000-year-old Georgian hymn that survived Soviet purges, all five women's voices join together in a dense, glowing mass. Wolf-Light's contributions on woodwind are particularly moving, often adding tension and dolour."
Hedera consist of five musicians: Lulu Austin (violin), Maisie Brett (violin/viola), Beth Roberts (violin/double bass), Tamsin Elliott (accordion/harp), and Isis Wolf-Light (clarinet). The debut album draws from musical traditions across Bulgaria, Bali, Ireland, and Georgia, opening with the sparkling Sterretjie. Instrumental exchanges move melodies between violin, clarinet, and accordion, while Roberts' Mayflies in June shifts between minor and major keys supported by harp. Sekar Jagat features prepared harp and plucked strings; Shen Khar Venakhi presents a dense vocal harmony. Wolf-Light's woodwind work brings tension and dolour, notably in Threnody and Koga Me Mama Rodila.
Read at www.theguardian.com
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