Chantelle Smith & Richard Wileman – Samhain Tree (2026)
Samhain Tree is the alluring 2026 debut album by folk singer-songwriter Chantelle Smith & composer Richard Wileman. The album contains a mix of eerie, inventive English folk with plenty of reverb, mesmerizing progressive rock elements and ambient music with mysterious atmospheres. For example, the lengthy song “Wheel of Fortune” builds slowly and beautifully with wordless vocals. It is truly spellbinding.
The duo initially teamed up when Chantelle participated in Richard’s solo 2024 album The Forked Road. Those sessions turned out great so they decided to form a writing, recording, and gigging duo to create a new set of wyrd (weird) folk songs and ghostly instrumentals. The result captures your imagination with a mix of timeless folk influences and progressive rock creativity.
Musicians: Chantelle Smith on vocals, acoustic guitar, harp, hurdy gurdy, shruti box, bodhrán, handclaps; and Richard Wileman on acoustic, electric, classical, bass, and synth guitars, vocals, bouzouki, keyboards, percussion, Appalachian dulcimer, accordion, handclaps.
Mixing, mastering, art & design by Richard Wileman.
Produced & arranged by Chantelle Smith & Richard Wileman.
Author: Angel Romero
Angel Romero y Ruiz has dedicated his life to musical exploration. His efforts included the creation of two online portals, worldmusiccentral.org and musicasdelmundo.com. In addition, Angel is the co-founder of the Transglobal World Music Chart, a panel of world music DJs and writers that celebrates global sounds. Furthermore, he delved into the record business, producing world music studio albums and compilations. His works have appeared on Alula Records, Ellipsis Arts, Indígena Records and Music of the World.