Made from a Broken Star

Progressive songwriting in the nest tradition, the material ranges from stark, ghostly chant across to gentle folk confessional, via one or two Ivor Cutler moments and some passionate jazz, and together amounts to a single story of magic, witness, praise and flight. The great thing about Army of Briars is that they seem to be able to create that sense of live miracle while working separately in different locations, and sending their contributions to be mixed together at Discus Music Studio.

This covid- enforced approach to Made From A Broken Star, has resulted in music that feels live, and a band that feels united. This is hugely down to the voices of Tim and Julie Cole, vulnerable, honest, warm, pure, and the series of beautiful and strange melodies that the group has created for them, making a cycle of ballads and spells. Keith Jafrate's imagistic nature poems take the listener through multiple worlds, past, present, interior and exterior, all focused on a kind of radiant connectedness. The music inhabits them like wind in a great tree, sounding out their intricate forms. Despite the range of styles, the songs have a strong narrative cohesion, and the album is a cathartic journey through, and into, the landscape.