LPCDreissues: Looking forward to the past

Originally privately released in 1975, the self-titled album by Stone Angel is one of the most elusive and atmospheric recordings from the English underground folk scene. Formed in East Anglia by Ken and Joan Saul and musicians from the earlier group Midwinter, Stone Angel drew inspiration from the legends, landscapes and traditional music of Norfolk and Suffolk.

The album’s sparse, homespun production gives the music an intimate character perfectly suited to its tales of vanished towns, supernatural animals, travellers and coastal folklore. Acoustic guitar, dulcimer, flute, recorder and understated percussion surround the delicate vocals, creating a sound that moves naturally between traditional English folk, original songwriting and the dreamlike atmosphere later associated with acid folk.

“The Bells of Dunwich” opens the record with a haunting song inspired by the Suffolk settlement gradually lost beneath the sea and the legend that its submerged church bells can still be heard beneath the waves. “Black Sailed Traders” and “The Black Dog” explore the darker side of East Anglian mythology, while “The Skater,” “Stone Angel” and the lengthy traditional ballad “The Gay Goshawk” reveal the group’s melodic and pastoral qualities.

Recorded using the limited facilities available at Joan’s teacher-training college and originally pressed in only a few hundred copies, Stone Angel gradually became a highly prized private-press folk rarity. This Cosmic Rock vinyl reissue makes the original nine-track album available again, preserving the fragile, mysterious atmosphere that has made it a cult classic of British folk music.

Track listing:

Side A
A1. The Bells of Dunwich – 5:43
A2. The Skater – 3:09
A3. Pastime with Good Company – 1:12
A4. Traveller’s Tale – 5:34
A5. Black Sailed Traders – 4:53

Side B
B1. Stone Angel – 3:34
B2. Galliard / Merrie Musicke Box – 1:55
B3. The Gay Goshawk – 6:59
B4. The Black Dog – 5:36