A powerful message and laudable re-addressing of historical balance is made that much more profound when two of Scotland's leading folk lights are in the driving seat. With an element of understatement, Heal & Harrow the duo reveal HEAL & HARROW the album as their debut release in a subtle wrapping of crystal vocals and artisan musicianship. In a parallel world Heal & Harrow are widely known as Rachel Newton and Lauren MacColl. Fans of folk music will know the work of this renowned harpist/vocalist and lauded violinist respectively through their solo majesty and pioneering projects. Now they have circled around an unjust past and blended their own skills with some stellar storytelling and insertions of the spoken word. As a sum, an album surfaces to meet the ideals of what folk purists crave.
The cause and plight core to the heart of Heal & Harrow is the persecution of Scottish witches in the 16th Century, and the countless deaths. Indeed the practice didn't end in the eyes of the law until a final act in 1727. By then a gruesome period of a nation's history has been laid, initially lost for centuries but now resurrected in an act of remembrance and recognition through the power of prose and music.
Each of the ten cuts on the record form their own memorial to an act, fact and fiction, uncovered and guided in the direction of recognised justice. Through Newton's magical vocals and intrinsic harp playing aligned with the exquisite fiddle work of MacColl, who in turn adds the emotive spoken parts, a beguiling and absorbing body of work sparks a curiosity. The work also draws inspiration from the writing of Mairi Kidd. Words play a key part in the essence of the record, and you can also toss Newton's Gaelic interventions in the mix.
Instrumental segments form a large part of the album's 41-minute running time, although most tracks do contain a small element of vocal contribution. The album does pivot around the axis of fiddle and harp, though this is merely the starting point. Of course any album of this context warrants further delving into the accompanying notes to help bring the project alive.
The extent you buy into the message of Newton and MacColl, and its wider relevance in today's battle for gender injustice, is down to the listener. However you are eased into the process by a sound delicately atmospheric and fully immersive. The endings can be gruesome, yet there is beauty in the remembrance centuries later. HEAL & HARROW sinks the majestic prowess of its architects into a fascinating project like only folk music can, and deals up predictably an award-drenched winner.
