Little Sparrow - Wishing Tree
by John Clarkson
published: 8 / 9 / 2015
Label:
Little Sparrow
Format: Download
intro
Excellent new download only single from Manchester-based folk act, Little Sparrow
The project of ethereal-voiced Cambridgeshire-born and now Manchester-based singer-songwriter Katie Ware, Little Sparrow’s debut album, ‘Wishing Tree’, of last year floated between the existing world and that of a magical alternative and better reality. Now just over twelve months on, to accompany the release of a new video, Ware has put out the title song as a download single. “Take a step back from the things that you see/You might get confused quite easily if you get too close,” she warns against the gorgeous backdrop of a dancing, see-sawing violin and a breezy folk tune. The video builds on this, unveiling a humorous and quirky side to Little Sparrow. Ware and her band mates waltz through a woodland wearing animal masks before finally discovering a huge cardboard cut-out of a wishing tree. A cartoon deer, birds, butterflies and other forest animals meanwhile flit in and out of the background. For all its surreality and sense of fun, one is left in no doubt that this, rather than being strange sugar tale optimism, has been hard-earned. It is Ware taking a brief respite from the real world with all its hurt and disappointment and wishing that this is the way things were rather than the way things actually are. ‘The Garden’, the second track on the single and a new song, builds on this idea further. Summery again in tone, it reveals Ware taking joy from her garden and in tending and building it. The ‘Wishing Tree’ single is about the importance of hope and of finding comfort from both the real and the imagined. Katie Ware and Little Sparrow make this both entrancing and also absolutely alluring.
Track Listing:-
1 Wishing Tree2 The Garden
Band Links:-
https://twitter.com/uklittlesparrowhttp://www.littlesparrow.org/
https://www.facebook.com/singinglittlesparrow
interviews |
Interview (2014) |
John Clarkson talks to Katie Ware, the front woman with Manchester folk act Little Sparrow, about her band's extraordinary forthcoming debut album |
live reviews |
Sacred Trinity Church, Salford, 12/9/2014 |
Mary O'Meara enjoys the spirituality and intimacy of folk act Little Sparrow's gig at the Sacred Trinity Church in Salford |
soundcloud
reviews |
Just 3 EP (2018) |
Thought-provoking and haunting EP and first release in four years from Little Sparrow, the project of Manchester-based singer-songwriter Katie Ware |
Wishing Tree (2014) |
most viewed articles
current edition
Screamin' Cheetah Wheelies - Sala Apolo, Barcelona, 29/11/2023 and La Paqui, Madrid, 30/11/2023Anthony Phillips - Interview
Difford and Tilbrook - Difford and Tilbrook
Rain Parade - Interview
Oldfield Youth Club - Interview
Autumn 1904 - Interview
Shaw's Trailer Park - Interview
Cafe No. 9, Sheffield and Grass Roots Venues - Comment
Pete Berwick - ‘Too Wild to Tame’: The story of the Boyzz:
Chris Hludzik - Vinyl Stories
most viewed reviews
current edition
Marika Hackman - Big SighSerious Sam Barrett - A Drop of the Morning Dew
Rod Stewart and Jools Holland - Swing Fever
Ian M Bailey - We Live in Strange Times
Loves - True Love: The Most of The Loves
Paul McCartney and Wings - Band on the Run
Autumn 1904 - Tales of Innocence
Banter - Heroes
Roberta Flack - Lost Takes
Posey Hill - No Clear Place to Fall
Pennyblackmusic Regular Contributors
Adrian Janes
Amanda J. Window
Andrew Twambley
Anthony Dhanendran
Benjamin Howarth
Cila Warncke
Daniel Cressey
Darren Aston
Dastardly
Dave Goodwin
Denzil Watson
Dominic B. Simpson
Eoghan Lyng
Fiona Hutchings
Harry Sherriff
Helen Tipping
Jamie Rowland
John Clarkson
Julie Cruickshank
Kimberly Bright
Lisa Torem
Maarten Schiethart