Spark Illuminate / The Holly And The Ivy

British folk singer Rachael Dadd takes the holly and ivy as the central theme of her Christmas single, released as part of the Snowflakes Christmas Singles Club, and pressed on snow white vinyl. In pre-Christian times, the holly and the ivy were symbols of the male and female sex. When christianity arrived, the holly and ivy were given new meaning, the holly symbolizing Jesus and the ivy Mary. The holly and ivy, that keep their colours in the winter, became a Christmas decoration, and are the reason why green and red are seen as the colours of Christmas. Rachael covers the 19th Century English carol The Holly And The Ivy on the B-side of her single and uses that carol as an inspiration for her original on the A-side, the poetic Spark Illuminate. With just her beautiful voice and a prepared piano (a piano that has its sounds altered by placing objects on or between the strings), Rachael creates an atmopshere of stillness and intimacy, to warm your heart during those cold days of Christmas.

Rachael Dadd is a contemporary folk singer and multi-instrumentalist based in Bristol, England and on the Japanese island of Mukaishima. She is married to Japanese experimental musician ICHI, with whom she also regularly performs, live and on record. Rachael debuted in 2004 with the album Summer / Autumn Recordings. The album was followed by a string of releases on labels like Broken Sound, Talitres, and Japanese labels Angel’s Egg and Sweet dreams Press.