Shovel Dance Collective will release their new album, Everything in Readiness, on Oct. 23, 2026, via tak/Glitterbeat. Ahead of the album, the nine-piece ensemble has shared its first single, “Tally Ho, Hark Away!,” along with a music video. The track serves as the third and final section of the album’s opening three-part suite, with a powerful arrangement built from horns, cymbals, and acoustic instrumentation.
According to the group, the song reinterprets the traditional fox-hunt call from the animal’s perspective. “Our Tally Ho! is not a hunter’s victory cry but a lament,” the band said. The musicians said the piece took inspiration from the piper’s fox-hunt tradition they encountered while on tour. Rather than celebrate the huntsman, their version mourns the fox and imagines its release from violence.
Shovel Dance Collective formed in late 2019 and has since become a prominent name in the renewed interest in traditional music. The group previously released The Water Is the Shovel of the Shore and The Shovel Dance, both of which received attention inside and beyond the British folk community.
With Everything in Readiness, the collective extends its approach through tape manipulation, field recordings, and sessions in unconventional locations. Meanwhile, acoustic instruments and ensemble vocals remain central to the record.
Musicians: Alex Mckenzie on bass clarinet, low whistle, high whistle, vocals, cassette tape; Daniel S. Evans on steel-string guitar, nylon-string guitar, electric guitar, percussion, cello, bells, vocals, field recording, cassette tape; Fidelma Hanrahan on harp, vocals; Jacken Elswyth on steel-string banjo, nylon-string banjo, shruti box, bells, vocals, field recording; Joshua Barfoot on bodhrán, drum kit, hammered dulcimer, percussion, bells, vocals; Mataio Austin Dean on vocals, steel-string guitar, electric guitar, clarinet, bells, field recording; Nick Granata on vocals, pump organ, bells; Oliver Hamilton on fiddles, vocals; Tom Hardwick-Allan on trombone, bass harmonica, harmonica, vocals.
Author: World Music Central News Room
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