Album Review: Catriona McKay and Chris Stout - White Nights (Self Release)

Initially creating a similar ambience to that which Adrian Johnston came up with for his wonderfully evocative soundtrack to Michael Winterbottom's film Jude in the early 1990s, the combined forces of Catriona McKay and Chris Stout, on Scottish harp and Shetland fiddle respectively, have likewise produced a musical landscape that is both ancient in feel yet timeless in execution. The two instruments in these hands weave seamlessly in and out of intricate and complex musical patterns creating one unifying soundscape inspired in part by the seasons, the past and present and reportedly reliability and risk.

This is original music inspired by the rich history of Celtic music north of the border as well as further a field such as Scandinavia with Catriona's Isflak. Composed by either musician individually or collectively as in Edges and High Water, the pieces demonstrate how fifteen years of performing together provides an informed understanding of each others playing. With just the one traditional piece included, Parting of Friends, which is incorporated here as part of Catriona's beautiful waltz Eira, the compositions share a common bond with the tradition.

Michealswood is a contemplation on remembrance, a piece of music composed by Chris to celebrate the memory of the founder member of Fiddler's Bid Michael Ferrie, taking the name from a specially planted forest in Shetland lovingly created by Michael's parents and brother. A fitting testament to absent friends and a gorgeous climax to White Nights.

The one fact that seems to momentarily escape you throughout this musical journey, is that you are listening to just the two instruments. The harp and fiddle have so much to offer in terms of depth and range, that anything else would be an intrusion apart from the silence between the tracks. Breathtakingly beautiful stuff.