Name: Strange Lights Over Garth Mountain
Brand: Gwenifer Raymond

Bonus disc

Bonus disc: No

Catalogue number

TSQ5784

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Colour

Colour details

Discogs ID

Format multiplier

Download code

Download code: No

Rough Trade Exclusive

Rough Trade Exclusive: No

Extended format

Extended format: No

Format detail

Format Music GB

Limited edition

Release date

2020-11-13

Signed copies

Signed copies: No

Supplier GB

Cargo

Tax rate GB

Standard:20

UPC / Barcode

856225005784

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Total Cap

1 / CD / Extended format: No / Rough Trade Exclusive: No / Signed copies: No

Artist

Gwenifer Raymond

Genre GB

Folk

Label GB

Tompkins Square

Gwenifer Raymond is a Welsh multi-instrumentalist hailing from Cardiff, now based in Brighton, England. With her impressive range of musical talents, she has become a respected figure in the music industry.
Her unique style draws inspiration from various genres such as folk, blues, and American primitive guitar. Influenced by artists like Glenn Jones, Jack Rose, and Bill MacKay among others; Gwenifer's compositions are both captivating and soul-stirring.
Whether it's her intricate fingerpicking or haunting melodies, *Gwenifer Raymond* has the ability to transport listeners to another time and place with her enchanting performances.

Tompkins Square label, established in 2005, is a renowned music label that has gained recognition for its exceptional releases. The label has worked with talented artists such as *William Tyler*, *Peter Walker*, *Ryley Walker* and *Michael Chapman*. With a focus on folk, old-time, gospel and American Primitive Guitar genres, Tompkins Square has also brought forth remarkable reissues of classic recordings. Their dedication to quality music has earned them an impressive eight Grammy nominations.

Welsh musician Gwenifer Raymond’s 2018 debut album, You Never Were Much of a Dancer, introduced a new voice on acoustic guitar, receiving 5 stars in The Guardian, big spreads in Mojo and Uncut, and airplay on multiple BBC programmes. This led to months of touring on the European festival circuit. Her latest, Strange Lights Over Garth Mountain, finds Raymond ranging into unexplored experimental territory, drawing from her Welsh roots.

In her own words: My new album, Strange Lights Over Garth Mountain, has eight songs in it. All were recorded in a basement flat in central Brighton, locked-down amidst a global pandemic. I recorded them myself and neither I, nor any of the songs saw said outbreak coming. Coronavirus may have dictated the circumstance under which the album was recorded but it did not otherwise inform any of the compositions that run through it; like I said, we didn't see it coming. Growing up in Wales was not a theme strongly present in my first record (perhaps not too surprising in an album of 'American Primitive'), but I feel as though my memories of that time have started to insinuate themselves in the tunes here. In my opinion, landscape does a lot to shape a community's folk music; from my childhood I recall tall, spooky trees, black against the grey sky, breath misting in cold air, and I have tried to take something of Welsh folk horror to make my own 'Welsh Primitive'. Whilst this isn't the only theme present in the album, childhood memories do form the background for a couple of tracks: coal trains steaming along the foot of our garden, rattling the glasses on the kitchen table; and the titular Strange Lights... dancing above the peak of the mountain which loomed over the house where I grew up. Dead men also feature prominently, as well as personal tragedies and the madness of touring. It's possible this album is leaning more into the left-field than the first - the songs are longer and more 'compositional' for lack of a better word, rather than deriving so heavily from the folk and blues traditions, though, they're still there - all of those dead men are hard to shake. Some parts go fast and others go slow. Sometimes I play more aggressively than I intend to and other times I play exactly as aggressively as I intend to. I still say it's punk music and I have no idea what key the last tune is in. For Erik Satie, Master Wilburn Burchette, and Ruben the dog.

Strange Lights Over Garth Mountain

Music GB