Strewn with Crimson

Wil Bolton’s Strewn with Crimson is an evocative sonic portrait of East London’s Lea Valley, shaped by its wetlands, marshes and industrial edgelands. The title draws from wild poppy and herb-robert growing across derelict Victorian filter beds, symbolising a landscape where biodiversity and ecological recovery sit uneasily with urbanisation and redevelopment.

The album grew from sounds and natural objects gathered on walks from late winter to summer, across Walthamstow Wetlands, Hackney Marshes and the waterways around the Olympic Park. At Stockholm’s EMS, Bolton processed these recordings through a historic Buchla 200 modular synthesiser.

Back in the studio, he merged them with improvised piano, shruti box, tuned percussion, copper lampshade and Bass VI, played with found twigs and glass. Guests include Katie English on bass flute and Russell Frost on mandolin.