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SF 001X-CD
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Debut album from Bolton-born gothic-folk songwriter Toria Wooff. English folk is about to enter a beguiling new era; tales of the beautifully strange. Singing stories woven of love, loss, hope, and womanhood, Toria Wooff's self-titled debut album offers an antidote to demons; a contemporary twist on the Anglo folk which whisper a word to the wise; never judge a book by its cover. Like tales of the unexpected lingering in the dewy mist of the Lancashire moors surrounding her hometown, Toria Wooff is anything but linear. With each song written independently of the other, and yet, working together like a compendium of short stories in a well-thumbed cloth-bound novel, hope lies at its heart and buckles under emotional weight like the hefty influence of the gothic literature, ghost stories of English medieval scholar M.R. James, and the British Library's Tales of the Weird adorning her bookshelves. The artwork even sees Toria herself, lounging across a church pew in the haunted 15th Century Medieval Mansion, Stanley Palace. Both an exorcism of torment and an invitation to feeling the good, it offers a more palatable pill to swallow. Album opener "The Plough" and imagined ghost story "The Waltz of Winter Hey" explore the physical and metaphysical truth of womanhood, whilst love and commitment eeks through the cracks on reassuringly uplifting "That's What Falling In Love Will Do." Elsewhere "Song for A" and "Lefty's Motel Room" contend with the impact of death, lovingly reviving the spirit of her own MIA partner-in-crime, Alicia. Whilst tugging at the cloaks of contemporary folk souls Jake Xerxes Fussell or Richard Dawson, each track also transcends time with roots deeply entwined in the seventies lyrical narratives of Led Zeppelin, Fairport Convention, and Townes Van Zandt. Recorded with producer and mix engineer James Wyatt, at his Sloe Flower studio in Chester with the organ recorded in Wales, the objective was simple; show restraint. With Toria's reassuring vocals and guitar taking the lead, it is only at the end of "Sweet William" when the band join in, whilst rousing strings on "Seeing Things Through" crescendo at the perfect point through instinct rather than intent -- adding its own challenges.
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LP
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SF 001LTD-LP
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LP version. Debut album from Bolton-born gothic-folk songwriter Toria Wooff. English folk is about to enter a beguiling new era; tales of the beautifully strange. Singing stories woven of love, loss, hope, and womanhood, Toria Wooff's self-titled debut album offers an antidote to demons; a contemporary twist on the Anglo folk which whisper a word to the wise; never judge a book by its cover. Like tales of the unexpected lingering in the dewy mist of the Lancashire moors surrounding her hometown, Toria Wooff is anything but linear. With each song written independently of the other, and yet, working together like a compendium of short stories in a well-thumbed cloth-bound novel, hope lies at its heart and buckles under emotional weight like the hefty influence of the gothic literature, ghost stories of English medieval scholar M.R. James, and the British Library's Tales of the Weird adorning her bookshelves. The artwork even sees Toria herself, lounging across a church pew in the haunted 15th Century Medieval Mansion, Stanley Palace. Both an exorcism of torment and an invitation to feeling the good, it offers a more palatable pill to swallow. Album opener "The Plough" and imagined ghost story "The Waltz of Winter Hey" explore the physical and metaphysical truth of womanhood, whilst love and commitment eeks through the cracks on reassuringly uplifting "That's What Falling In Love Will Do." Elsewhere "Song for A" and "Lefty's Motel Room" contend with the impact of death, lovingly reviving the spirit of her own MIA partner-in-crime, Alicia. Whilst tugging at the cloaks of contemporary folk souls Jake Xerxes Fussell or Richard Dawson, each track also transcends time with roots deeply entwined in the seventies lyrical narratives of Led Zeppelin, Fairport Convention, and Townes Van Zandt. Recorded with producer and mix engineer James Wyatt, at his Sloe Flower studio in Chester with the organ recorded in Wales, the objective was simple; show restraint. With Toria's reassuring vocals and guitar taking the lead, it is only at the end of "Sweet William" when the band join in, whilst rousing strings on "Seeing Things Through" crescendo at the perfect point through instinct rather than intent -- adding its own challenges.
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