The Spectrum Project

Award-winning fiddler Marie Fielding’s fourth album is a curious, but engaging, experiment. Exploring the organic nature of the creative process the majority of its ten tracks were only played in full for the first time during the recording process. What could be messy is, instead, exciting and vibrant. Atmosphere is key here, as noted by Fielding herself in the sleeve notes. The album’s spontaneous and artistic nature is echoed in the almost abstract expressionist cover art by Fielding herself.

Opener ‘Spectrum’, a free-flowing tune composed a few days before the recording, is a moody introduction, setting us up for an expected haunted soundscape. In truth though, the album settles more into a familiar set of self-penned and traditional tunes. The 18th-century fiddler Niel Gow makes an appearance with his tune ‘Captain MacDuff’s’ while ‘Connemara Reel’ is a fine dance tune that illustrates Fielding’s Irish ancestry. It is the experimental pieces, such as ‘Spectrum Outro’, that linger and more of these would have been welcome. An exhilarating approach to the creation and recording process, The Spectrum Project maybe doesn’t always live up to its promise but its experimentation is commendable and, at its heart, this is a beautifully produced and stimulating album.