Blue-Eyed Hawk - Under the Moon - Jazz - CD

Taking it's name from a line in W.B. Yeats's poem Under the Moon, Blue-Eyed Hawk is the London-based band that brings together vocalist Lauren Kinsella trumpeter Laura Jurd, guitarist Alex Roth and drummer Corrie Dick. Their debut album, titled after the same poem, is the sum of a collaborative process that bursts with the youthful energy, vision and integrity of all four members. The resulting music is emotive, lyrical, dark, inspiring and at times unexpected, often conjuring the dreamlike, nature-themed imagery of Yeat's eponymous poem. Bringing a wide open improv sensibility to it's melodic and richly textured original material, Blue-Eyed Hawk creates uniquely eclectic music that traverses art-rock, jazz, minimalist and electronic sound worlds. With the writing shared between all four members all four members of the band, Under the Moon is very much a communally crafted statement of expression. Lyrics by E.Y Harburg, W.B Yeats, Armand Silvestre and Seamus Heaney serve as sources of inspiration, but there are no typical jazz renditions; nor can this be considered an art-rock album - instead, we hear a refreshing, genre-defying and boundless approach to music-making at it's most creative and original. Working with electronic artist Leafcutter John (Polar Bear, Melt Yourself Down) and producer Tom Herbert (The Invisible, Polar Bear), the band vastly broadened it's sound palette in the studio, drawing on production techniques from across a wide spectrum of musical styles and eras. The result is dynamic, substantial and expansive with strikingly detailed textures enhancing the varied soundscape. Such a highly developed and shared musical understanding allows the tracks to flow as effortlessly as the streams in the Welsh mountains where Under the Moon was recorded. A unique take on Over the Rainbow, the raw and emotive Aurora 5am, the punkish riffs ofLiving in the Fast Lane, the achingly beautiful for Tom and Everything, the collective improvisation O Do Not Love Too Long and the powerful final track Valediction all combine in a vertiginous, unstoppable flood of music. Under the Moon is an album of beauty, diversity and soaring emotion.

• UNDER THE MOON
• Jazz
• Edition Records