Nuada: Music Inspired By The Film The Wicker Man

For those of you who missed it, The Wicker Man was a wonderfully weird 1972 film about a dour Scotsman who goes off to investigate a possible murder on a remote island, only to discover a happy (if completely barmy) pagan community led by Christopher Lee in a kilt.

30 years later, London-based nouveau-psychedelia band Candidate travelled to the original filming location, spent a few days soaking up the atmosphere (documented by a bonus film on the CD, in which singer Joel Morris describes folk music in general as “menacing, haunting and erotic” – sounds about right to me), and wrote this delightful collection of songs.

Highlights include ‘Sowing Song’ and ‘Burrowhead’, both anchored by vibey guitar riffs, and the bouncy, jazz-flavoured ‘Song Of The Oss’. The multi-part harmonies throughout have more in common with Crosby, Stills & Nash or the Byrds than with anything produced in the last few decades, which is no bad thing.