Shadow Box by Emily Barker
One Christmas as a young girl, my Dutch grandfather gave me a box made of pinewood. He had made it himself. Each compartment was lined with green felt and it smelt like forest after rain. He told me it was a “shadow box” and explained that I could place small, precious keepsakes on the tiny shelves as a way of remembering moments in life. Sea shells; old coins; pebbles; wrens' feathers; a blue and white windmill pepper shaker from my Oma; a small brass dog – each room of my shadow box was soon occupied with little loves.
Putting this album together was like taking a trip up to the attic and rummaging around for a long forgotten shadow box. As though picking up each dusty ornament, I listened back to these old recordings and found myself smiling and tapping my feet, as the music propelled me back...
Most of the memories here are of times shared with the three brilliant musicians and friends who I had the honour of being in a band with for nine years: Gill Sandell, Jo Silverston and Anna Jenkins - The Red Clay Halo. There are live recordings from our biggest, sold-out headline show - at Union Chapel in London in 2012 - the show was filmed and some of the songs are on my YouTube channel - also, for the first time on CD, there are the four covers we recorded live to disc at Mark Ronson’s Zelig Studios in London - originally released on a 10” vinyl EP on Record Store Day 2014. The Rains and Every Season were recorded with Calum Malcolm and released as a digital EP along with Fields of June and Nostalgia, but up until now have only been on the German CD release of Dear River as bonus tracks.
Other tracks are ones that haven’t been available on CD before, or were originally included on compilations - all of them are songs and versions that sit on shelves in my shadow box - I hope you enjoy listening as much as I enjoyed reminiscing…
Tracklist
| 1. | Tougher Than The Rest | 3:45 |
| 2. | Day After Tomorrow | 5:46 |
| 3. | Do Right Woman, Do Right Man | 4:39 |
| 4. | Easter | 5:26 |
| 5. | Nostalgia (live at Union Chapel) | 5:30 |
| 6. | Billowing Sea (Live at Union Chapel) | 3:44 |
| 7. | This Is How It's Meant To Be (live at Union Chapel) | 4:16 |
| 8. | Pause (live at Union Chapel) | 3:54 |
| 9. | Look Our For My Love (live at Union Chapel) | 4:28 |
| 10. | The Rains | 2:47 |
| 11. | Every Season | 2:38 |
| 12. | First Time Ever I Saw Your Face | 4:11 |
| 13. | I'm So Lonesome I Could Cry | 2:25 |
| 14. | Harbour | 2:40 |
| 15. | Doing The Best I Can | 3:54 |
| 16. | Beneath The Skin Of England | 2:50 |
Credits
SONGS BENEATH THE RIVER
Performed by Emily Barker & The Red Clay Halo
Tougher Than The Rest
Bruce Springsteen (Universal Music Publishing)
Jo Silverston: cello
Anna Jenkins: violin
Gill Sandell: accordion, backing vocals
Nat Butler: percussion
Matt Park: pedal steel
Emily Barker: vocals, acoustic guitar
Day After Tomorrow
Tom Waits, KathleenBrennan (Universal Music Publishing)
Jo Silverston: cello, backing vocals
Anna Jenkins: violin, backing vocals
Gill Sandell: piano, backing vocals
Matt Park: pedal steel
Emily Barker: vocals, acoustic guitar
Do Right Woman, Do Right Man
Dan Penn, Chips Moman (Screen Gems-EMI)
Jo Silverston: cello, backing vocals
Anna Jenkins: violin, backing vocals
Gill Sandell: piano, backing vocals
Emily Barker: vocals, acoustic guitar
Easter
Patti Smith, Jay Dee Daugherty, Lenny Kaye (BMG / Warner Chappell)
Jo Silverston: cello, backing vocals
Anna Jenkins: violin, backing vocals
Gill Sandell: piano, backing vocals
Emily Barker: vocals, acoustic guitar
Recorded at Mark Ronson’s Zelig Studios in London, 15 February 2014
Produced by Darrel Sheinman
Recorded by Joshua Blair
Assistant: Cicely Balston
Mastered by Darrel Sheinman and Peter Beckmann @ Gearbox Records
LIVE AT UNION CHAPEL
Performed by Emily Barker & The Red Clay Halo
Nostalgia
Emily Barker (Normal Music/Domino Publishing)
Jo Silverston: cello, backing vocals
Anna Jenkins: violin, backing vocals
Gill Sandell: piano, backing vocals
Emily Barker: vocals, acoustic guitar
Billowing Sea
Emily Barker (BMG Rights Management)
Jo Silverston: cello, backing vocals
Anna Jenkins: violin, backing vocals
Gill Sandell: flute, backing vocals
Ted Barnes: acoustic guitar
Ali Friend: double bass
Nat Butler: drums
Emily Barker: vocals, acoustic guitar
This Is How It’s Meant To Be
Emily Barker (Normal Music/Domino Publishing)
Jo Silverston: cello, backing vocals
Anna Jenkins: violin, backing vocals
Gill Sandell: shaker, backing vocals
Emily Barker: vocals, acoustic guitar, harmonica
Pause
Emily Barker (BMG Rights Management)
Jo Silverston: backing vocals
Anna Jenkins: backing vocals
Gill Sandell: backing vocals
Emily Barker: vocals, electric guitar
Look Out For My Love
Neil Young (Sharandall Music)
Jo Silverston: cello, backing vocals
Anna Jenkins: violin, backing vocals
Gill Sandell: accordion, backing vocals
Ted Barnes: mandolin
Ali Friend: double bass
Nat Butler: drums
Emily Barker: vocals, electric guitar
Recorded live at Union Chapel, London, 21 November 2012
Engineered by Mike Silverston and Iestyn Rees
Mixed by Mike Silverston
Mastered by Howard Mills
From the FIELDS OF JUNE EP
Performed by Emily Barker & The Red Clay Halo
The Rains
Emily Barker (Normal Music/Domino Publishing)
Jo Silverston: cello, backing vocals
Anna Jenkins: violin, backing vocals
Gill Sandell: piano, backing vocals
Emily Barker: vocals, banjo, percussion
Every Season
Emily Barker (Normal Music/Domino Publishing)
Jo Silverston: cello, backing vocals
Anna Jenkins: violin, backing vocals
Gill Sandell: piano, backing vocals
Emily Barker: vocals, electric guitar
Produced by Calum Malcolm
Recorded at Gorbals Sound, Glasgow
Mixed and mastered by Calum Malcolm
First Time Ever I Saw Your Face
Ewan MacColl (Harmony Music)
Performed by Emily Barker & The Red Clay Halo
Gill Sandell: piano
Liz Jones: trumpet
Emily Barker: vocals, acoustic guitar
Recorded at Cafe Studios in August 2010
Produced by Emily Barker and Ted Barnes
Engineered by Cherif Hashizume
Piano recorded by Ted Barnes
Mixed by Cherif Hashizume and Mark Sutherland
Mastered by Tim Turan
I’m So Lonesome I Could Cry
Hank Williams (Sony/ATV Music Publishing)
Emily Barker: vocals, acoustic guitar
Recorded at Toe Rag Studios, January 2015
Produced by Liam Watson
Mastered at Gearbox Records by Darrel Sheinman, assisted by Jonny Firth
Harbour
Emily Barker (Normal Music/Domino Publishing)
Gus Fairbairn - saxophone
Jesper Jonsson - drums
Ruben Engzell - bass
Emily Barker - vocals, guitars, piano
Recorded in October 2014
Acoustic guitar, piano and electric guitar recorded at home by Emily Barker
Vocals recorded at Ragged Moon, Stroud
Saxophone recorded by Gus Fairbairn
Drums and bass recorded by Ruben Engzell
Mixed by Ruben Engzell
Mastered by Howard Mills
Doing The Best I Can
Emily Barker (Normal Music/Domino Publishing)
Rob Pemberton: drums, backing vocals
Lachlan McLellan: bass, backing vocals
Misha Law: backing vocals
Emily Barker: vocals, acoustic guitar, electric guitar, piano, harmonica
Recorded in June 2015
Vocals, piano and harmonica recorded by Niks Patel at Ragged Moon
Drums, bass and acoustic guitar recorded by Rob Pemberton
Electric guitar recorded by Emily Barker at home
Produced by Emily Barker
Mixed and mastered by Howard Mills
Beneath the Skin of England
Emily Barker (Normal Music/Domino Publishing)
Misha Law: violin
Dom Coyote: backing vocals
Emily Barker: vocals, bells, piano
Recorded at home and around the streets of Stroud, June 2013
Produced, engineered and mixed by Emily Barker
Mastered by Howard Mills
SHADOW BOX
Cover photography: Jake Gavin
Design: Howard Mills
License
All rights reserved.
Emily Barker is the award-winning songwriter and performer of the theme to BBC TV’s Wallander starring Kenneth Branagh. Her music is an indie blend of influences from alt-country to folk via 60s pop, with comparisons ranging from PJ Harvey to Joni Mitchell.