death songbook

With Brett Anderson, Charles Hazlewood, and Paraorchestra, and featuring special guests Nadine Shah, Adrian Utley (Portishead) & Seb Rochford (Pulled By Magnets, Acoustic Ladyland, Sons Of Kemet)

Broadcast online by BBC Cymru Wales 6th – 7th March 2021 as part of GŴYL 2021

Death Songbook was broadcast by Sky Arts Friday 26 November 2021.

Brett Anderson, Charles Hazlewood, and Paraorchestra were joined by guest vocalist Nadine Shah in Death Songbook, a one-off special performance of music by icons such as Echo and the Bunnymen, Skeeter Davis, Japan, David Bowie/Jacques Brel, and Suede. An exquisite songbook featuring delicate new versions of songs about death; the death of love and of loss, and transcendence.

This rich set - amplified by the diversity and virtuosity of Paraorchestra musicians in new arrangements by composer Charlotte Harding - was broadcast online by BBC Cymru Wales across the weekend of 6th – 7th March 2021 as part of GŴYL 2021 - a free to watch online festival weekend of music, comedy, and conversation.

In a journey through the melancholy and euphoria of loss, Death Songbook embraces a predominantly acoustic set – contrary to Paraorchestra’s bold, loud, and typically electronically influenced or amplified output - celebrating a multiplicity of song styles and song writing, moods and textures through an unusual combination of instruments, for a spectral, ethereal soundscape. Ancient instruments like Dulcimer, handbells and recorders sit aside Wurlitzer piano, alto flute and heavily processed vibraphone; creating warmth, depth, space - and comfort.

“It has been pure unmitigated joy putting Death Songbook together with Brett and Paraorchestra, if that isn’t a contradiction! I am British after all, and I’d say melancholia is our defining national characteristic: British people feel comfort in melancholy. Songs about death, the death of love, loss, anxiety, loneliness, they make us feel transcendent - and in a period of global anxiety, that’s a real balm.” Charles Hazlewood

Filmed under the disquiet of the third COVID-19 pandemic lockdown, in the vast emptiness of the Donald Gordon stage, Wales Millennium Centre; Death Songbook reminds us that music is our greatest friend in bleak times; inviting us to crouch around a candle and meet our sorrow head-on, comforting, nourishing, and uplifting.

“This was such a joyous project to happen amidst the gloom of January. I’d loved Nadine’s work since I heard Fool and she and I had spoken about doing something together for ages as had me and Charles who I had also greatly admired from afar. For this all to happen against the odds with those wonderful musicians from Paraorchestra, plus the talents of Adrian Utley and Seb Rochford, was just so lovely.” Brett Anderson

Photos: Kirsten McTernan