My Generation Prod.
The Wyld Olde Souls : Ensoulment (US,2011)***'/**°°
I remember the band very well from their very good version of Gwydion’s “Sun God” on their debut (the album was endorsed by Tom Rapp). They were a kind of neo-pagan folk band. In the meanwhile we are already so many years later, and I missed a bit what they did ever since, but here I have their latest release to check out. It still is their second release, which took 10 years to complete and it was worth the waiting.
Stylistically they worked with attention to their group sound, with an attractive result showing elements of folk-rock, neo-pagan celebration in a hippie-sense, and small a psychedelic touch. The feminine energy dominates, with nice female dual vocals and wordless backing vocal arrangements with strummed and picked acoustic guitars and all the other occasional additional arrangements by mellotron (more often), tabla, electric guitar, flute and less often violin and sitarguitar and such. On one instrumental, a picked guitar piece with tabla and a bit of sitar they show their capacities and possibilities of instrumentation very well (8). Lyrically it sounds a bit simple, perhaps naïve and is mostly related with a love relationship, romantic idealism, and if beyond it shows a vague spirituality rooted in feeling well in a certain environment and company. But the songs themselves mostly convince well thanks to the total package and right atmosphere. The band also did a cover of King Crimson’s “I talk to the wind” in a dance folk version, with flute improvisation, congas, strummed guitar and dual vocals, being tuned into woodland atmosphere, this does not entirely fit the song itself, it gives it a different context. All-in all the album has roots that fit in the magical folk years of the 70s, and fit with the new American pagan community folk movement as well, despite the personal context of most of the songs.
