To get one thing straight, Tim is pronounced “Cheem” and is the Gaelic word for time. This isn’t the place for my usual diatribe about how Gaelic was invented by the Scots just to annoy the English so we’ll take that as read. Mairearad Green is a musician, formerly with The Poozies and a visual artist – see the cover design which is one of five paintings illustrating the package. Mairearad sings and plays piano, accordion and to particularly good effect here, small pipes.
The link between Mairearad’s music and her art are clear. In fact, the album is an integral part of her new exhibition at An Talla Solais in Ullapool so the songs can be considered as musical representations of her paintings. The first track, ‘Old Dornie’, with lyrics by Jan Kilpatrick, is a gentle song drenched in traditional measures. It begins with the sound of boats on the water which is what the painting, sorry song, is all about. Mairearad wrote the words of ‘Knockan Crag’ and the up-tempo accompaniment is shared by Iain Hutchison providing bass, guitar, synths and drum programs. If you want a painting of a rocky nature reserve listen to this.
‘Camuscoillie’ is the first instrumental starting with stately small pipes and drifting away with piano. I’m sure there is a story behind this piece but I’ve failed to discover what it is. ‘To The Ground’ is a song about looking around and appreciating what you see. It’s what might be called the album’s big production number if such a term were appropriate. It’s followed by ‘I Swallowed The Sky’ which I take to be an exhortation to raise your eyes above the horizon.
The second instrumental is the title track, a slow, rather gloomy pipe tune and that’s followed by ‘Painted Lady’. I like the implied dual meaning – literally it’s about the butterfly but it could be also about Mairearad herself, as a painter asking, “how do you know where to go?”. ‘Tide And Time’ brings us back to Mairearad’s native Scotland, a piano driven song which builds up via an electric guitar solo before giving way to the final track, ‘Long Night’s Moon’, describing a home-spun ceilidh with a big arrangement to close out the set.
Tim is a delightful album and although all the material is original there are certain unmistakeable cadences that tell you exactly where its heart lies.
Dai Jeffries
Artist’s website: https://www.mairearadgreen.co.uk/
Mairearad’s Ullapool exhibition:
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