Carol Fieldhouse has released her debut album Linen, a collection of songs dressed in folk and celtic textures. Underneath the soft exterior, Linen uncovers layers of a very personal nature in what Fieldhouse herself describes as being “a private poem to myself”.
Linen is the culmination of eight years of attending various song writing workshops, one of which Fieldhouse met the producer Boo Hewerdine who was keen to produce an album for her.
“He (Hewerdine) insisted on going down to The Hub Sound Studios in Cambridge to record something with me. He asked if I wanted to play on the album as well as sing, but I was just committed to singing so as I could concentrate more on that part – so he got some people in to play (Neil MaColl, James Watson and Chris Pepper). Then shortly before we started recording Boo told me he liked the way I played on the demos and he wanted me to do both.”
Fieldhouse confronts the issue of ageing with a refreshing acceptance of the process and in the title track she celebrates the positives getting older can bring. Mildly tongue in cheek, Fieldhouse uses the physical qualities of linen and its social connotations as a reference to the relationship between the material and getting older. When writing the song, she found herself surrounded by a number of what she describes as ‘bright young things straight out of music college’ at The Dartington International Summer School of Music. Rather than feeling intimidated or overawed by her prestigious peers and settings, Fieldhouse embraced her status amongst them.
“It is a fact that once you get to a certain age you become sort of invisible. That means you can be whoever you want to be and it gives you a sense of freedom. There is also a sense that although your exterior may become more monotone with age as it were, there is undoubtedly rich life within and it develops with ideas and confidence. I am able to express my playfulness and theatre through song, yet still behind this silver screen”.
Not only do the songs selected for the album suggest a tangible relationship with ageing but one can detect a continual elemental theme with nature. Fieldhouse points out that The Wave is inspired by a curious photograph she was introduced to on her MA song writing course, depicting an elderly lady in The Faroe Islands.
“It was inspired by a film made about The Faroes and this lady known as ‘the swimming granny’. The film highlights her grandson’s awe for her as he had never witnessed such a beautiful relationship between a person and nature. She had swam in the ocean every day since she was 30 until her 90th birthday – which she began with a swim. She identifies swimming as the main contributor to helping her recover after being unwell after the birth of her child, and beyond that shows no fear of dying in the ocean as that is ‘her health'”.
Dark River is the local name for The River Dart in Devon where Fieldhouse was sat one day during a writing workshop, and Oxygen came from a quote she read in an interview with a journalist who was kidnapped by the Taliban.
“This journalist paraphrased a quote from someone else about how life and love are like oxygen, you never know how precious they are until they are under threat. That made me think about what a friend of mine said to me. She asked why I never write about love but the truth is I always write about love, it is just that my love is of different things, like nature”.
Apart from a compassionately clipped version of Lucy In The Sky With Diamonds by The Beatles, all of the songs are written by Fieldhouse and in some way pay homage to nature and her upbringing in North Derbyshire.”I am at my happiest when I write about nature and that is where my heart lies… I am much happier outside than I am enclosed in a building”.
Yet Fieldhouse does admit to enjoying her experience recording the album more than when she performs.”I love recording more than performing. It means I can put the guitar down and concentrate on singing – you aren’t distracted by one or the other and that is my way”.
Linen is a simply arranged and simply produced collection of songs that Fieldhouse wanted to do justice to – and few would argue that she hasn’t achieved that. The stripped back and light production is consistent throughout the record with no unwanted surprises lurking behind a corner. This is a minimalist folk form, involving minimal instruments thereby reducing any clutter and even with its warm imperfections it is delicately clean. This album is a charming ode to ageing and should inspire anyone with a longing to pick up a guitar and sing no matter what stage of life they find themselves.
“Although there is a certain wistfulness about doing this so late in my life there is also a great joy in starting something so exciting when so many people are not – I suppose you could say I was doing it backwards”.
Words by Jimmy Gallagher
Click to visit Carol Fieldhouse’s website
Quiffed Owl 
Lovely xxx
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