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Blackmore's Night — Nature's Light
(Ear Music 0215766EMU, 2021, CD / 2CD / LP)

by Peter Thelen, Published 2021-05-07

Nature's Light Cover art

It’s been a good five years since the previous Blackmore’s Night album All Our Yesterdays (which I reviewed in November 2016). This makes about 14 albums since their beginnings back in 1997; some things have changed, but mostly they haven’t. Candice Night’s voice is still spellbinding as ever and full of wonder, Richie Blackmore’s musicianship and production is both tasty and brilliant throughout. Longtime fans of the band will most certainly not be disappointed, with the bulk of the material crafted from a fusion of medieval folk and rock and just about everything in between. Of the ten cuts, two are essentially instrumental, two are traditionals with lyrics added by Knight, and in all cases (other than the two traditionals), the music is composed by Blackmore, who plays all manner of acoustic and electric guitars, mandola, bouzouki, hurdy gurdy, and nyckelharpa, while Night provides lead and backing vocals, tambourine, and all manner of Renaissance and medieval woodwinds. Other players include bassist Earl Grey of Chimay, keyboardist Bard David of Larchmont, drummer and percussionist Troubador of Aberdeen, and violinist Scarlet Fiddler, plus various guests offering backing vocals on this track or that. One track, “Darker Shade of Black,” was on the last album also, here it’s essentially the same track, I’ve listened to them back to back and I think the newer version was just remixed, I can’t quite put my finger on what’s different, but it just sounds better here. There are a lot of standout cuts along this ten-song journey, and things never get samey. The instrumental “Der Letzte Musketier” is the album’s rocker, offering a tribute to one of Blackmore’s early pre-Deep Purple bands The Three Musketeers, the other two members of which have long since passed. Now there are a lot of ways one can get this: in yellow vinyl or heavy-duty black vinyl, as a single CD digipack or a 2CD hardcover mediabook (the second disc contains nine selections from their previous albums). And of course it’s available as a download — but anyway one gets Nature’s Light, you’ll be treated to an album of Blackmore’s Night at their very best.

Filed under: New releases, 2021 releases

Related artist(s): Blackmore's Night

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http://www.blackmoresnight.com/

 

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