Shirley Collins has a new album on the way.
Titled Heart’s Ease, it comes almost four years on from her last full-length record, 2016’s Lodestar. It’s preceded by lead track ‘Wondrous Love’, which you can watch a video, filmed during lockdown, for above.
The tune for ‘Wondrous Love’ comes from an 18th Century English ballad about sea captain William Kidd, who was hanged for piracy in 1701. A press release explains that Collins first heard the hymn at a Sacred Harp Convention in Alabama, and she has decided to sing it now because "songs are stored in my memory for a great many years, and suddenly it seems the right time to bring them out again."
Speaking about her previous album, Collins says: "When I listen to it, it does sometimes sound rather tentative. I had to record it at home because I was just too nervous to sing in front of somebody I didn’t know. This time I was far more relaxed – even though I went into a studio."
Domino will release Heart’s Ease on July 24, 2020.
Revisit Shirley Collins’ 2016 appearance on The Quietus Radio here.
