“The Singing Places is composed of five tracks that cross fade into each other. The music interweaves with field recordings made in different locations on the upper reaches of the River Thames.” – Virginia Astley
Gardens was a work of pastoral theater that infused sprightly woodwinds and strings with recordings from the riverside village of Moulsford-on-Thames, looping bleating livestock and rushing streams into miniature dioramas of rustic life. It would remain the only record of its kind in Astley’s catalog for four decades as she explored new modes, incorporating song and poetry into her worlds. With her new album The Singing Places, she returns with another assemblage of field recordings and elegant acoustic arrangements. She’s finally revisiting the verdant garden of her imagination.
