Mediæval Bæbes surely need little in the way of introduction as by this point in their career they are a full-blown British institution. Formed in 1996 by Dorothy Carter and Katharine Blake, it initially included some of Blake’s colleagues from Miranda Sex Garden, as well as other friends who shared her love of medieval music. Over the years there have been various experimentations and different ways of expressing their music, although always with their wonderful harmonious vocals at the core of all they have been doing, but this album is one of those which saw them move a little out into left field at times. When this album was originally released in 2000, it was following on from their second release, ‘Worldes Blysse’ which had been a major success, and a decision was made to bring in a different style of producer, none other than John Cale.
Looking back in time I must confess this appears to have been a strange idea, and certainly his idea to bring in some non-medieval instruments such as saxophone and electric guitar are quite jarring to the ear in some ways. But, it can also be viewed in a different light, that the rather unusual (at times) instrumentation pushed the band in a different direction which they coped with admirably. Although this album was released some 20 years ago, I have only recently come across it thanks to the reissue by Talking Elephant, and yet again I am blown away by the sheer quality and beauty of those voices. Over the years there have been many changes within the singers, but Katharine Blake is still there to the present day (Carter passed away in 2003), and they are still producing incredible works (if you haven’t heard their latest album, ‘A Pocketful of Posies’ then you owe it to your ears to do so). The choral arrangements are stunning, and I still remember seeing them perform onstage at about the time of this release. An incredible band, and all thanks to Talking Elephant for making it easily available once again.
Rating: 9/10
Links:
https://www.mediaevalbaebes.com/
https://www.talkingelephant.co.uk/
