Fred Thomas’ album ‘The Beguilers’ weaves crafted song-writing into the narratives of poems by William Blake, Emily Brontë, William Shakespeare, James Joyce, Walter Savage Landor and Thomas Carew. Drawing on a wonderfully strange repository of musical influences – English folk, Joao Gilberto, Minimalism, the Aka Pigmies, The Beatles, and the English Madrigal School – Fred Thomas’ settings delicately bring the poets’ images and metaphors to life with finely wrought harmonies and luscious melodies. ‘The Beguilers’ features vocals from Ellie Rusbridge and instrumental contributions from Dave Shulman, Liam Byrne, and Malte Hage.
Buy ‘The Beguilers’ here
Music written, arranged and produced by Fred Thomas
Mixed by Fred Thomas & Alex Bonney
Mastered by Jon Astley
Artwork by Ted Allen
Fred Thomas – guitars, keyboards, double bass, gamba, cello percussion
Ellie Rusbridge – vocals
Dave Shulman – clarinets
Liam Byrne – viola da gamba
Malte Hage – electric bass
“a beautiful thing….The Beguilers is absolutely gorgeous” – Guy Garvey, BBC Radio 6
“A beautiful, unique album that dazzlingly recasts these poems in new and unexpected ways” – Nest Collective Hour,Resonance FM