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Fruit

by Kate Fletcher

/
  • Compact Disc (CD) + Digital Album

    A startling collection of womanly songs, deeply original & darkly traditional. Beautifully crafted with voice, guitar, oboe, kantele & flute, & expertly produced by Robert Harbron. Wistfulness, sadness, beauty & hope. Quietly stunning.

    "... she is defiantly a solo artist, affording us an intimate glimpse into her own distinctive and private creative world.

    Hers is an unusual and intriguing soundscape, rejoicing in a subtle and unpretentious use of a variety of instrumental colours and timbres...with unobtrusive production by Robert Harbron, there's a homespun, primitive immediacy to the proceedings that's really attractive...

    Kate's songwriting is honest and succinct, understated and refreshingly non-self-indulgent,...The standout tracks for me are highly contrasted: on one hand the disturbing, stark and broodingly strange Midnight, which tells of a modern-day haunting, and on the other the comforting haven of the beautiful Beyond The Silence.

    Kate's work is quietly stunning..."

    Reviewer: David Kidman, Stirrings Magazine.

    Muse Magazine:

    "...inspiring arrangements of traditional songs. My immediate reaction to hearing the music of the Dorset songstress was very pleasurable."...."Kate's haunting vocals result in desolate and beautiful renditions."..."Kate Fletcher has created a down to earth folk album which seems to transport you outside of the confines of your home into the countryside's open spaces and rolling hills."

    Sacred Hoop Magazine:

    Kate Fletcher, a good English name for a good English singer with a considerable amount of good feel for good traditional English music flowing from her first solo CD. Her voice and style come across as very traditional folk, and four of the songs are folk songs, the rest all bar one, are written by Kate herself. She also plays most of the instruments herself too, including one I had never heard of - kantele, a Finnish plucked psaltery.

    The songs range from love songs to songs about the elements and the four directions, spells and witchcraft, Pennant valley (the shambhala of Mid Wales), and the San Bushmen. All the songs are well crafted and played, with no evidence of any self indulgence. Throughout her voice is charming and strong, and I especially like the song she wrote for Pennant, which I first heard on a day of 'wall to wall computing'. It made me stop and wonder what the hell I was doing typing a keyboard all day long.

    Reviewer: Nick Wood.

    The Druid Network:

    The blurb on this CD says it is a 'startling collection of womanly songs' and this is very much the case. Here there are spells and ballads, and each one feels wholly to be the call and cry of the female soul. Each is sung with a softly clear voice, to acoustic instruments (guitar, oboe, kantele), all played and sung by the artist except the mouth bow, played by Corwen ap Broch. There is a medieval element in places, which is where I feel she is most captivating. Other sources of inspiration are Northern European and the Kalahari, but always she is haunting in her expression of emotion - not always raw but ethereal and questioning. It is worth listening to as a whole, and some tracks are worth dissolving into completely.

    Reviewer: Emma Restall-Orr

    Includes unlimited streaming of Fruit via the free Bandcamp app, plus high-quality download in MP3, FLAC and more.
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  • Full Digital Discography

    Get all 3 Kate Fletcher & Corwen Broch releases available on Bandcamp and save 35%.

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1.
Fruit 04:29
FRUIT As round as a pear As straight as an apple I am As small as an oak As big as an acorn I am As pale as the moon As bright as a candle I am And if you dare to ask me where I've been I may just smile and say I've been in the juicer And in this this bottle, this tiny little bottle Are the last few drops so please, please don't drop them As quick as a day As slow as a second I am As weak as an ox As strong as a feather I am As poor as a king As rich as a pauper I am And if you dare to ask me where I've been I may just laugh and say I've been in the juicer And in this bottle, this tiny little bottle Are the last few drops so please, please don't drop them Afloat in the deep Drowned in the shallows I am And in this bottle are the last few precious drops Please be careful, please be careful, please... They're made of me I am Made of me
2.
INVOCATION Wind of the air, my love's on the sea, Ho ro y re y ro, Ho ro y re y ro Make the weather calm and fine Ho ro y re y ro, Ho ro y re y ro Shonest, Leodest and the Raa Give good luck and fortune to him Health and peace and length of life Ho ro y re y ro, Ho ro y re y ro back to top back to to song list STRÖMMING BOATS The boats are homeward coming across the brimming fjord The nets are full of strömming and all are well aboard But homeward never more comes my sailor The fisher huts are laden, they're baking brittle bread What care they that a maiden is weeping for her dead That bells will never ring for her wedding Cold the storm was blowing, no winding sheet had he No parting kiss bestowing, they buried him at sea With all my heart beside in the blue tide
3.
CLOSE MY EYES I don't have a leg to stand on I don't have a hope in hell But if you're at the end there waiting I only hope you'll say I lived and did it well But if I have to close my eyes to see My ears to hear If I have to close my mind to understand I will not come back here again Ten thousand thousand years But only three score ten are mine And every night I think of it I know that I am running out of time But if I have to close my eyes to see My ears to hear If I have to close my mind to understand How can I come back here? What will you do if I want you back? I have to keep my head together I do not have a leg to stand on now What will you do if I want you back? I have to keep my world together I do not have a hope in hell What are you going to do? What are you going to do? I read and read but still Nothing seems to ring true And every path I follow Only ever leads me back to you But you make me close my eyes to see My ears to hear And you make me close my mind to understand I never want to come back here again Not for the years and the learning What will you do when I call you back? I have to keep my head together I do not have a leg to stand on now What will you do when I want you back? I have to keep my world together I do not have a hope in hell What are you going to do? What are you going to do When I call for you?
4.
Cruel Sister 04:29
CRUEL SISTER There lived a Lord in the North Country With a down down derry down And he had daughters one, two, three, With a down down derry derry down A young man came a-courting there And he won the heart of the youngest fair He gave the youngest a golden ring But he didn't give the eldest anything O sister come let us walk out And see the ships that sail about As they walked down by the salty brim The eldest pushed the youngest in O sister lend to me your hand And I will give you house and land I'll neither lend you hand nor glove But I will have your own true love There she floated like a swan And the salt sea bore her body on A harper walked along the strand And he saw her body float to land He made a harp of her breast bone And its song would melt a heart of stone Then he came to her father's hall To play the harp before them all But as he laid it on a stone The harp began to play alone The first string sang a doleful sound Of how the bride her sister drowned The second string, when he tried In terror sits the guilty bride The third string sang beneath his bow And surely now her tears will flow
5.
BEYOND THE SILENCE I found a place beyond the silence I found a place where I can go I make a home beneath the music I found a place where I can go Stay with me Stay with me Stay with me forever The storm is passed, the sky is clearing now I found a place where I can go The day is on, the light is growing now I found a place where I can go Stay with me Close to me Stay with me forever I found a way, a way to reach you I found a place where we can go Come with me Stay with me Close to me forever I found a place beyond the silence I found a place where I can go
6.
BREEZES OF CHANGE Where are you blowing to, Breezes of Change Where are you blowing today? Could you carry me over the hills Put me on a pilgrim's way? I've heard you rattling my window I've heard you calling in the moving trees Are you ready to blow with me? And something inside whispers change is stability Somebody told me that years ago Nothing is certain, nothing is sure I'm scared but I'm ready to go Where are you drifting to, Tide on the Turn Where are you drifting with me? Will I be stranded at the End of the Earth Or carried on out to the sea? I feel your waters rising swiftly I feel the pulling of the undertow Are you ready to drift with me? And something inside... How you are sculpting me, Fingers of Time Carving me out of the clay Every feature and every line Study of wisdom in grey I see you beckoning with open arms I feel your hand upon me every moment Are you ready to walk with me? And something inside whispers change is stability Who was it told me that years ago? Nothing's forever and days cannot wait I'm scared but I'm ready to go How you are burning me, Fire of Love Branding me deep in my soul Melting me, pouring me into your mould Forging me over the coal I hear your bellows as they rise and fall You set me ringing as your hammer strikes me Are you ready to give now? And something inside whispers change is stability Somebody told me that years ago Nothing is perfect, nothing is mine I'm scared but I'm ready to go Where are you blowing to, Breezes of Change Where are you blowing today? Will you carry me over the hills Put me on a pilgrim's way? I hear you rattling my window I hear you calling in the moving trees Are you ready to blow with me? And something inside whispers change is stability Somebody told me that years ago Nothing is certain, nothing is sure But I'm here and I'm ready to go
7.
IF WISHES WERE HORSES How many times have I wished on a star Wished that the world could be fairer It's so overcrowded there's nowhere to go And there's others with acres to spare And what I could do with an acre of land Somewhere to be is all I ask for How many times have I wished for an acre If wishes were horses... How many times have I wished on a star Wished that my living was easy Money enough would be money enough And I wouldn't be selfish or greedy And what I could start with a fortune of plenty Something to do is all I ask for But how many times have I wished for a fortune If wishes were horses... beggars would ride And how many times have I wished on a star Wished that our love could be simple I'd be who I am, you could be who you are I would be who I am, you could be who you are And what we could do with our hearts undivided Someone to be with is all I ask for How many times have I asked for such love O if wishes were horses... We would ride, we would ride O we would ride, we would ride I'd saddle Epona, you could take Pegasus O if wishes were horses... beggars would ride And what I could do with an acre of land What I could do with a fortune And what we could be if you'd give me your hand If wishes were horses... beggars would ride
8.
Lullaby 02:51
LULLABY Twilight comes, cold and grey Weary embers of the dying day Silence falls, fire cease Leave our people now to sleep in peace I will watch, through the night Keep you safe, hold you tight I will watch, while you Go to sleep, rest your head Close your eyes and lie down on your bed Dreams may come where shadows play Think of him before he went away Men of might, brave and true Pray they sleep soft as you Even to men who fight Must slumber come at dead of night So close your eyes, rest your head
9.
SWEET ENGLAND As I was a walking one morning in spring To hear the larks whistle, the colley birds sing I heard a fair maiden a-making her moan Alas I'm a stranger away from my home Where is your country I gladly would know And what mean these tears that so freely do flow What makes you to wander so far from your home And causes lament in a strange land alone? I came from sweet England with mother and dad They thought in America all might be had Of gold and of silver and riches galore And we'd never need humger in poverty more But alas for sweet England my father is dead My mother could earn but a dollar for bread And alack the white wings of the ships as they fly Out across the blue sea and leave me here to die Now mother is dead, I am left all alone If I were in England no more would I roam I've an aunt who is grey and she loves me amain So will not some ship take me homeward again? She lives in a cottage, a rose by her door Her pans and her dishes I'd scrub, or the floor I'd kiss her white cheeks and I'd nurse her in pain And thank God I was back in sweet England again
10.
Midnight 04:10
MIDNIGHT She turned up again in the back of my car And showed me a place I will live She said Dad is a hero and you are his wife And we all live together a wonderful life Do you come from the depths of a turbulent mind? Are you part of a future I'm trying to find? Will they come for me soon if I start going round Telling people the things that I see? Her face in the mirror was shady and strange As we drove through the Marlborough Downs And she told me the secret of travel through time That she learnt from this fabulous husband of mine Do you come from the depths of a turbulent mind? Did he send you to show me in case I was blind? Will they come for me soon if I start going round Telling people the things that I see? We argued for maybe an hour or so I confess I was losing my grip And at Hungerford Hill we were arguing still When I managed to give her the slip Did she come from the depths of a turbulent mind? Was she part of a future I'm trying to find? Will they come for me soon if I start going round Telling people the things that I see?
11.
SPINNING SONG Hulla macka doo hoo rova hee Hoo rova hinda hee rova hinda Hulla macka doo hoo rova hee O deck o deck o dandy When will someone come to me? Will he come by land or sea? Will he my own lover be? O tell me truly wheel-o Wheel of fortune what dost say? This year next or ne'er a day? When will someone come my way? O tell me truly wheel-o Be he dark or be he fair Shy or bold or debonair Ribbons bra' will deck my hair To meet and greet my true love
12.
River Song 02:13
RIVER SONG A young man came to the mouth of the river Under the bridge a girl was singing The song she sang had no end or beginning So the man sat down to listen The song she sang was the seasons turning The song she sang was the river flowing She sang a song of a young man listening She sang a song of a lovers' meeting The tune played on to a woman waiting The tune played on to a baby crying And it whistled in the wind like a woman dying And it sprang fronm the ground like a young girl growing And the young girl came to the mouth of the river Where every sound was the voice of her mother She sang a song with a haunting meter She sang a song that the wind had taught her And a young man came to the mouth of the river Under the bridge a girl was singing And the song she sang had no end or beginning So the man sat down to listen
13.
Valley Song 04:25
VALLEY SONG Come to the valley, the beautiful valley Where body and spirit are honoured as one Come to the valley, the beautiful valley Come to the valley and sing Walk in the forest, the murmuring forest That covers the mountain, the immoveable mountain Run through the meadow, down in the valley Where body and spirit are honoured as one Walk in the forest, wash in the river Laugh in the meadow or weep in the cave Breathe in the spirit Come to the valley and sing Climb up the mountain, the immoveable mountain The mountain that watches the valley below Look down on the valley, this beautiful valley Where body and spirit are honoured as one Enter the cavern, the dark of the cave Deep in the mountain where waterfalls sing to you Sing to the valley, this beautiful valley Where body and spirit are honoured as one Walk in the forest... Drink from the river, the glistening river That flows from the mountain, the immoveable mountain Bathe in the waters, these emerald waters High in the moutain if high you will go Walk in the forest...
14.
BROKEN STRING My father used to sing that the string has broken The string he used to hear when Rainmaker called forth the rainbull And that is why things are so different now For things continue to be unpleasant to me I cannot hear the ringing sound in the sky I used to hear I fear the string has really broken leaving me So when I sleep I cannot feel the string which used to vibrate in me as I lay asleep I fear the string has really broken leaving me I cannot hear the ringing sound in the sky I used to hear I fear the string has really broken leaving me My father used to sing but the string has broken I cannot hear the ringing sound in the sky

about

A startling collection of womanly songs, deeply original & darkly traditional. Beautifully crafted with voice, guitar, oboe, kantele & flute, & expertly produced by Robert Harbron. Wistfulness, sadness, beauty & hope. Quietly stunning.

"... she is defiantly a solo artist, affording us an intimate glimpse into her own distinctive and private creative world.

Hers is an unusual and intriguing soundscape, rejoicing in a subtle and unpretentious use of a variety of instrumental colours and timbres...with unobtrusive production by Robert Harbron, there's a homespun, primitive immediacy to the proceedings that's really attractive...

Kate's songwriting is honest and succinct, understated and refreshingly non-self-indulgent,...The standout tracks for me are highly contrasted: on one hand the disturbing, stark and broodingly strange Midnight, which tells of a modern-day haunting, and on the other the comforting haven of the beautiful Beyond The Silence.

Kate's work is quietly stunning..."

Reviewer: David Kidman, Stirrings Magazine.

Muse Magazine:

"...inspiring arrangements of traditional songs. My immediate reaction to hearing the music of the Dorset songstress was very pleasurable."...."Kate's haunting vocals result in desolate and beautiful renditions."..."Kate Fletcher has created a down to earth folk album which seems to transport you outside of the confines of your home into the countryside's open spaces and rolling hills."

Sacred Hoop Magazine:

Kate Fletcher, a good English name for a good English singer with a considerable amount of good feel for good traditional English music flowing from her first solo CD. Her voice and style come across as very traditional folk, and four of the songs are folk songs, the rest all bar one, are written by Kate herself. She also plays most of the instruments herself too, including one I had never heard of - kantele, a Finnish plucked psaltery.

The songs range from love songs to songs about the elements and the four directions, spells and witchcraft, Pennant valley (the shambhala of Mid Wales), and the San Bushmen. All the songs are well crafted and played, with no evidence of any self indulgence. Throughout her voice is charming and strong, and I especially like the song she wrote for Pennant, which I first heard on a day of 'wall to wall computing'. It made me stop and wonder what the hell I was doing typing a keyboard all day long.

Reviewer: Nick Wood.

The Druid Network:

The blurb on this CD says it is a 'startling collection of womanly songs' and this is very much the case. Here there are spells and ballads, and each one feels wholly to be the call and cry of the female soul. Each is sung with a softly clear voice, to acoustic instruments (guitar, oboe, kantele), all played and sung by the artist except the mouth bow, played by Corwen ap Broch. There is a medieval element in places, which is where I feel she is most captivating. Other sources of inspiration are Northern European and the Kalahari, but always she is haunting in her expression of emotion - not always raw but ethereal and questioning. It is worth listening to as a whole, and some tracks are worth dissolving into completely.

Reviewer: Emma Restall-Orr

credits

released January 1, 2007

recorded and mastered by Robert Harbron

Kate plays everything except for mouthbow, which despite its simplicity she has failed to master...

VOCALS: Kate Fletcher

GUITAR: Kate plays a Stanford guitar

SIX STRING KANTELE & FIVE STRING HORSEHAIR KANTELE made by Corwen

OBOE made by Orsi

NATIVE AMERICAN STYLE FLUTE made by Nick Cox

MOUTH-BOW made and played by Corwen

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about

Kate Fletcher & Corwen Broch Scotland, UK

Kate was raised on porridge and song in a family of eccentric musicians in Reading. Wrote my first song at 19. Bought a Narrowboat to live on. Everyone said it was a phase. I still have the boat.

Corwen grew up in Dorset with his grandparents who were The Last Of The Victorians. He was instilled with a love of spartan living, open fires and outside toilets.

They make beautiful music together!
... more

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