Description

‘Wildfires’, the sixth studio album from English singer-songwriter Polly Paulusma, is out on February 28^th via One Little Independent Records and Wild Sound. Across nearly two hours and six sides of vinyl, folk instrumentation is peppered with spoken-word poetry prologues amid sounds from caves and rivers. Its artful presentation is the hallmark of producer Ethan Johns (Ray Lamontagne / Laura Marling / Ryan Adams), as such, it presents a step change in Paulusma’s until now largely autonomous catalogue.

Polly Paulusma bares all amidst a collection of textured acoustic guitars and rich, layered melodic flourishes. ‘Wildfires’ is mellow and cozy in its production, but its honesty is bittersweet – an intimate and reflective rumination on love’s many guises, the easy parts as well as the hard. As always, Paulusma’s articulate and emotive lyrics, and her ability to convey the deepest vulnerability with vivid, sometimes nostalgic, imagery is astounding here. The LP, as filled with delicate earworms as it is with expressive poetry, burns slowly but no less fiercely, and like love, it can be gentle, it can envelope one completely, and occasionally it can be heart-wrenching.

In an age of fatigue and dwindling attention spans, as well as targeted short-form content pushed over social media channels, Paulusma is asking us to slow down. ‘Wildfires’ is a callback, an ode to the concept album, intended to be listened to in a single, relaxed sitting, allowing for the interconnected stories of love in all its forms to reveal themselves. Like all good things, the reward here is in the commitment.

The length of ‘Wildfires’ is a testament to the confidence that Johns had in the quality of its contents. They recorded 20 songs live in another burst of activity over five days between 18-22 November 2023 at a chapel studio in Wales, capturing performances between Polly, Jon Thorne (bass), Neil Cowley (piano) and Ethan on drums or tiple. Polly and Ethan then went out for a day into the wild Preseli Hills and recorded the spoken word passages on location in churches, down quarries, in caves, by riversides, and against sacred standing stones. Ethan feathered the audio recordings to create delirious effects recalling tape print-through. A few light overdubs were added to the songs on two sessions at his studio, and the album was complete.

Across parts 1 and 2 ‘Wildfires’ (separated into ‘Sparks’ and ‘Embers’) tells a story. It describes the love we feel as children, the love we give to others through music, the misdirected love we feel as teenagers, the love of lost babies, the love of the dead, and romantic love, the hot fools’ gold, the agonising passion, the madness that comes from that entirely interior mental whirlwind, those feelings that burn on the inside, and the more durable slow-burn love of longer term relationships, the love and longing for a divine presence, love from beyond the grave, love from beyond the stars.

Tracklisting:

Part 1–Sparks

• A1 – Prologue to Paper Cathedral
• A2 – Paper Cathedral
• A3 – Prologue to Mary Louise
• A4 – Mary Louise
• A5 – Prologue to Red Flags
• A6 – Red Flags
• A7 – Prologue to Dunstable Downs
• A8 – Dunstable Downs
• B9 – Prologue to Over and Over
• B10 – Over and Over
• B11 – Prologue to O! My America
• B12 – O! My America
• B13 – Prologue to Eyes on the Road
• B14 – Eyes on the Road
• C15 – Prologue to Wild Swimming
• C16 – Wild Swimming
• C17 – Prologue to Cabin in the Woods
• C18 – Cabin in the Woods
• C19 – Prologue to Scars
• C20 – Scars

Part 2–Embers

• D1 – Prologue to Last Night I Had A Dream
• D2 – Last Night I Had A Dream
• D3 – Prologue to Mad Girl’s Love Song #2
• D4 – Mad Girl’s Love Song #2
• D5 – Prologue to Throw Me To The Dogs
• D6 – Throw Me To The Dogs
• E7 – Prologue to What You Waiting For
• E8 – What You Waiting For
• E9 – Prologue to Tip of my Tongue
• E10 – Tip of My Tongue
• E11 – Prologue to Long Goodbye
• E12 – Long Goodbye
• F13 – Prologue to May Day
• F14 – May Day
• F15 – Prologue to You Are Everything
• F16 – You Are Everything
• F17 – Prologue to Tiny Little Things
• F18 – Tiny Little Things