Polly Paulusma

1. PROLOGUE TO PAPER CATHEDRAL
2. PAPER CATHEDRAL
3. PROLOGUE TO MARY LOUISE
4. MARY LOUISE
5. PROLOGUE TO RED FLAGS
6. RED FLAGS
7. PROLOGUE TO DUNSTABLE DOWNS
8. DUNSTABLE DOWNS
9. PROLOGUE TO OVER AND OVER
10. OVER AND OVER
11. PROLOGUE TO O! MY AMERICA
12. O! MY AMERICA
13. PROLOGUE TO EYES ON THE ROAD
14. EYES ON THE ROAD
15. PROLOGUE TO WILD SWIMMING
16. WILD SWIMMING
17. PROLOGUE TO CABIN IN THE WOODS
18. CABIN IN THE WOODS
19. PROLOGUE TO SCARS
20. SCARS
21. PROLOGUE TO LAST NIGHT I HAD A DREAM
22. LAST NIGHT I HAD A DREAM
23. PROLOGUE TO MAD GIRL’S LOVE SONG #2
24. MAD GIRL’S LOVE SONG #2
25. PROLOGUE TO THROW ME TO THE DOGS
26. THROW ME TO THE DOGS
27. PROLOGUE TO WHAT YOU WAITING FOR
28. WHAT YOU WAITING FOR
29. PROLOGUE TO TIP OF MY TONGUE
30. TIP OF MY TONGUE
31. PROLOGUE TO LONG GOODBYE
32. LONG GOODBYE
33. PROLOGUE TO MAY DAY
34. MAY DAY
35. PROLOGUE TO YOU ARE EVERYTHING
36. YOU ARE EVERYTHING
37. PROLOGUE TO TINY LITTLE THINGS
38. TINY LITTLE THINGS

Across nearly two hours and six vinyl sides of vinyl, on Paulusma’s sixth album WILDFIRES folk instrumentation is peppered with spoken-word poetry prologues amid sounds from caves and rivers. Its artful presentation is the hallmark of producer Ethan Johns (Ray Lamontagne / Laura Marling / Ryan Adams), as such, it presents a step change in Paulusma’s until now largely autonomous catalogue.

Polly Paulusma bares all amidst a collection of textured acoustic guitars and rich, layered melodic flourishes. ‘Wildfires’ is mellow and cozy in its production, but its honesty is bittersweet – an intimate and reflective rumination on love’s many guises, the easy parts as well as the hard. As always, Paulusma’s articulate and emotive lyrics, and her ability to convey the deepest vulnerability with vivid, sometimes nostalgic, imagery is astounding here. The LP, as filled with delicate earworms as it is with expressive poetry, burns slowly but no less fiercely, and like love, it can be gentle, it can envelope one completely, and occasionally it can be heart-wrenching.

In an age of fatigue and dwindling attention spans, as well as targeted short-form content pushed over social media channels, Paulusma is asking us to slow down. ‘Wildfires’ is a callback, an ode to the concept album, intended to be listened to in a single, relaxed sitting, allowing for the interconnected stories of love in all its forms to reveal themselves. Like all good things, the reward here is in the commitment.

The length of ‘Wildfires’ is a testament to the confidence that Johns had in the quality of its contents. They recorded 20 songs live in another burst of activity over five days between 18-22 November 2023 at a chapel studio in Wales, capturing performances between Polly, Jon Thorne (bass), Neil Cowley (piano) and Ethan on drums or tiple. Polly and Ethan then went out for a day into the wild Preseli Hills and recorded the spoken word passages on location in churches, down quarries, in caves, by riversides, and against sacred standing stones. Ethan feathered the audio recordings to create delirious effects recalling tape print-through. A few light overdubs were added to the songs on two sessions at his studio, and the album was complete.

Across parts 1 and 2 ‘Wildfires’ (separated into ‘Sparks’ and ‘Embers’) tells a story. It describes the love we feel as children, the love we give to others through music, the misdirected love we feel as teenagers, the love of lost babies, the love of the dead, and romantic love, the hot fools’ gold, the agonising passion, the madness that comes from that entirely interior mental whirlwind, those feelings that burn on the inside, and the more durable slow-burn love of longer term relationships, the love and longing for a divine presence, love from beyond the grave, love from beyond the stars.

PREORDER

1. SNAKESKIN
2. BACK OF YOUR HAND
3. DIRTY CIRCUS
4. LUMINARY
5. BRACKLESHAM BAY
6. ANY OTHER WAY
7. BRAMBLES AND BRIARS
8. THE BIG SKY
9. TIRED OLD EYES
10. SULLEN VOLCANO
11. ROBIN

Polly’s fifth album PIVOT features songs written solo about her father’s death (SNAKESKIN) and the trials of motherhood (DIRTY CIRCUS) and songs written on writing retreats with Kathryn Williams (THE BIG SKY), David Ford (BRAMBLES AND BRIARS) and the novelist Laura Barnett (BRACKLESHAM BAY). Early experiments with prose and song mergings can be seen beginning to emerge here. For a sister-album experience listen to PITCH (WHEN VIOLENT HOT PITCH WORDS HURT).

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1. EXTRACT FROM ‘SEVERAL PERCEPTIONS’ READ BY POLLY PAULUSMA
2. THE MAID AND THE PALMER
3. EXTRACT FROM ‘THE EXECUTIONER’S BEAUTIFUL DAUGHTER’ READ BY KIRSTY LOGAN
4. JACK MUNRO
5. EXTRACT FROM ‘THE BLOODY CHAMBER’ READ BY KATHRYN WILLIAMS
6. LUCY WAN
7. EXTRACT FROM ‘JOHN FORD’S ‘TIS PITY SHE’S A WHORE’ READ BY KIRSTY LOGAN
8. LADY ISABEL AND THE ELF-KNIGHT
9. EXTRACT FROM ‘THE ERL-KING’ READ BY KATHRYN WILLIAMS
10. THE BANKS OF RED ROSES
11. EXTRACT FROM ‘THE ERL-KING’ READ BY POLLY PAULUSMA
12. BARBARY ALLEN
13. EXTRACT FROM ‘THE LADY OF THE HOUSE OF LOVE’ READ BY KIRSTY LOGAN
14. THE STREAMS OF LOVELY NANCY
15. EXTRACT FROM ‘THE BLOODY CHAMBER’ READ BY KATHRYN WILLIAMS
16. REYNARDINE
17. EXTRACT FROM ‘SHADOW DANCE’ READ BY KIRSTY LOGAN
18. THE FLOWER OF SWEET STRABANE
19. EXTRACT FROM ‘REFLECTIONS’ READ BY POLLY PAULUSMA

Polly’s fourth album INVISIBLE MUSIC, released just as Wild Sound became a folk imprint at One Little Independent, was launched with a live stream from the Vaughan Williams Library at Cecil Sharp House in the middle of lockdown. Polly sings a selection of folk songs Carter either sang or knew intimately, interspersed with readings of Carter’s writing delivered by Polly, Kathryn Williams and the novelist Kirsty Logan. This album is the musical expression of Polly’s doctoral research which was published in academic book form by Bloombury.

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