My discovery of Emily Barker and her music was somewhat labyrinthine. Having developed an interest in Nordic Noire via such series as Borgen, The Bridge and Dicte. I found myself enjoying the Wallander series. When this series was remiade in English with Kenneth Branagh in the title role it was enevitable that I would watch it. The theme music was hynotic and upon searching I found it to be by Australian singer Emily Barker.
We then had the opportunity to attend a concert given by Emily and her then band ‘The Red Clay Halo’ at the late lamented Square Arts Chapel in Halifax. It was a superb evening and as usual I came away signed CD in hand. This next video is taken from another night on this tour from 2012.
So, here is a little bit of biography. Emily Barker, (as previously mentioned) is an Australian singer-songwriter, musician and composer. Her music has featured as the theme to BBC dramas Wallander and The Shadow Line. With multi-instrumental trio The Red Clay Halo, she has recorded four albums: Photos.Fires.Fables. (2006), Despite The Snow (2008), Almanac (2011), and Dear River (2013), whilst releasing a solo album The Toerag Sessions (2015). Other projects include Vena Portae (with Dom Coyote and Ruben Engzell) and Applewood Road (with Amy Speace and Amber Rubath).
Emily who has now taken up permanent residence in England, sent me an email, letting know about her latest single release, ‘Where Have The Sparrows Gone?’ She describes the lyrics of the song as ‘telling the post apocalyptic tale of a mother and child fleeing a devastated London to find a safer place to be. Rather than trying to portray the whole story in a short video, we decided to focus in on one verse: “Ashes in my pocket / I’ll scatter them when we stop / He loved to be by water / Down where the waves bow and buck”, which tells a story within a story. We don’t know exactly what happened to the father, but we know he is no longer there. As they flee, the mother and child make a detour to the ocean to scatter his ashes.
This is taken from her upcoming album release “A Dark Murmuration of Words”. One of my favourites from this album is ‘The Woman Who Planted Trees’. “It’s a matter of life and death for this country. The Kenyan forests are facing extinction and it is a man-made problem.” Wangari Maathai Kenyan activist, Wangari Maathai founded The Green Belt Movement in order to reforest degraded land to provide food and empower women in her community. Since its establishment in 1977, over fifty million trees have been planted in the region, and over thirty thousand women trained in forestry, food processing, beekeeping and other trades that provide an income as well as protect and nurture the environment.
