British musical ensemble Mediaeval Baebes (Mediæval Bæbes) has a new album titled “MydWynter” (2022). It is a loose sequel to their 2013 Christmas themed recording “Of Kings and Angels,” which reworked several well known seasonal favorites. Notably, “MydWynter” is a darker reminder of the pre-Christian origins of the winter festival.
Produced and arranged by Queen Baebe Katharine Blake, previously founder of the recently revived Miranda Sex Garden, MydWynter (a gentle nod to Ari Aster’s unsettling pagan horror movie Midsommar) accepts that not every winter mystery can be wholly illuminated. As a consequence, some things just stay obscured.
The opening track, ‘Carol of the Bells’ (based on a Ukrainian folk song), was written with a guest spot from avowed Baebes fan Iggy Pop in mind. The wild a cappella arrangements of ‘Mary Fre’, an old text set to Blake’s music, and the forceful Spanish hymn ‘Ríu Ríu Chíu’ feature the Baebes’ Superchoir, ten women singing together in the former snooker room of green baize hero Steve Davis, who now devotes the space to musical pursuits.
More traditional is a take on Christmas favorite ‘Deck the Halls’, while a version of ‘O Little Town of Bethlehem’, anchored by the drone of a tanpura, becomes ever stranger as the genuinely odd lyric of the fourth verse takes on a new meaning in this relentless context.
On the cheerful side, the uplifting French favorite ‘Noël Nouvelet and ‘Gower Wassail’, a recipe in song for confused wassailers seeking to impress the spirits of the new year’s growth. Blake is particularly fond of the rousing ‘Personent Hodie’, built on the ‘We Shalt Rock Thou’ beat, while her own compositions for arrangements of ancient texts such as the 4th century ‘Laudes Celebret’, the earliest of Christmas hymns, and the appropriately Springtime-facing closer ‘This Flour is Fayre’ blur the old and the new.
The current Baebes line-up includes Katharine Blake, Fiona Fey, Marie Findlay, Sophia Halberstam, Maya McCourt and Josephine Ravenheart. They will be performing at sacred spaces in December, presenting music at churches and cathedrals (and the odd arts center) from Cornwall to Northumberland.
Mediaeval Bæbes December 2022 Tour
6th Milton Keynes, The Stables
7th Bolton, Bolton Parish Church of St Peter
8th Leeds, Leeds Minster
9th Stoke On Trent, Stoke Minster
10th Newcastle, The Cathedral Church of St Nicholas
11th King’s Lynn, St Nicholas’ Chapel
15th Truro, Truro Cathedral
16th Chagford, St Michael’s Church
17th Glastonbury, St John the Baptist Church
18th Sandwich, St Mary’s Art Centre
19th Colchester, Colchester Arts Centre
20th Horsham, St Mary’s Church
21st London, Heath Street Baptist Church, NW3
Buy MydWynter
Author: World Music Central News Room
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