Carry Fire

Submitted by nonesuch on
Release Date
DescriptionExcerpt

Robert Plant's eleventh studio album, Carry Fire, produced by Plant in the west of England and Wales, melds unusual rhythms with naturalism. As with his 2014 album, lullaby and… The Ceaseless Roar, it features his band The Sensational Space Shifters. They are also joined here by special guests, including Chrissie Hynde. The album is "transfixing," exclaims NPR. "Plant and his collaborators create music that overflows with irrepressible life force ... Carry Fire is rivetingly intimate."

Description

Robert Plant's new album, Carry Fire, was released by Nonesuch/Warner Bros. Records on Friday, October 13, 2017.

Carry Fire, Robert Plant's eleventh solo album and first full-length release since 2014's acclaimed lullaby and... The Ceaseless Roar, was produced by Plant in the west of England and Wales, at Top Cat studio in Box, Wiltshire with additional recordings at Real World and Rockfield studios. As with lullaby, Plant is accompanied by The Sensational Space Shifters: Justin Adams on guitar, acoustic guitar, oud, E-bow quartet, percussion, snare drum, tambourine; John Baggott on keyboards, moog, loops, percussion, drums, brass arrangement, t'bal, snare drum, slide guitar, piano, electric piano, bendir; Billy Fuller on bass, keyboards, and drum programming; Dave Smith on bendir, tambourine, djembe, drum kit; and Liam "Skin" Tyson on dobro, guitar, acoustic guitar, pedal steel, and twelve-string.

Plant and the Space Shifters are also joined on Carry Fire by a number of special guests. Chrissie Hynde joins Plant on the duet "Bluebirds Over the Mountain" (written by rockabilly legend Ersel Hickey and later recorded by both Richie Valens and The Beach Boys). Albanian cellist Redi Hasa performs on three tracks, as does the celebrated Seth Lakeman on viola and fiddle.

Plant and the Space Shifters (which now includes Lakeman) celebrate Carry Fire's release by beginning a world tour in November 2017 starting in UK & Ireland and touring all corners of globe from thereon. 

Plant and the band spent two years on the road together supporting lullaby and... The Ceaseless Roar, their unique sound and vision ultimately evolving into something even more creative and powerful.

Plant, who lived in Texas for a time before returning to his native England three years ago, together with his friends, present the songs Carry Fire, melding unusual rhythms with naturalism and smoldering power.

"It's about intention, I respect and relish my past works but each time I feel the lure and incentive to create new work. I must mix old with new. Consequently the whole impetus of the band has moved on its axis somewhat, the new sound and different space giving way to exciting and dramatic landscapes of mood, melody and instrumentation."

lullaby and... The Ceaseless Roar made top 10 debuts around the globe upon its release, from the US's SoundScan/Billboard 200 to album charts in Belgium, Canada, Finland, Hungary, Italy, New Zealand, Norway, Poland, Sweden, Switzerland, and the United Kingdom.

Along with its international commercial appeal, lullaby and... The Ceaseless Roar drew rave reviews from such high profile media outlets as NPR Music, which named it to their 50 Favorite Albums of 2014, noting, that Plant "is still a majestic rock presence, at peace with the legacy of his hard-rock-defining band Led Zeppelin, while remaining relentlessly creative in his solo work … [The album] lovingly layers elements in ways that mirror memory, creating new constructs from floating shards of the musical past." "Robert Plant knows where rock's past begins and he's pulling it into the future," wrote the Wall Street Journal while the New York Times praised the singer's "otherworldly voice: sustained, androgynous, balanced between serenity and ache."

Britain's Guardian declared lullaby and... The Ceaseless Roar to be "fantastic: gritty, dark, and satisfying" while also making special mention of Plant's "hugely impressive backing band, the Sensational Space Shifters… There's something almost alchemical about their ability to draw together incongruent musical influences into something coherent and exciting." Pitchfork called lullaby "the most bravely confessional writing of his career."

ProductionCredits

PRODUCTION CREDITS
Produced by Robert Plant
Recorded at The Attic Studio, Bristol; The Bee Barn, Bala; Billy Fuller’s Home Studio, Bristol; Black Earth Studios, Bath; Real World Studios, Box; Rockfield Studios, Monmouth.
Additional recording by Justin Adams, John Baggott, Ben Findlay, Billy Fuller; Skin Tyson.
Recording assistant at Rockfield: Joe Jones
Recording assistant at Real World: Oli Middleton
Most overdubs, vocals and a world of jangle & crash recorded by Tim Oliver at Top Cat Studio
Chrissie Hynde vocal recorded by Dave McCracken at SARM and The Timberyard, London
All tracks mixed by Tim Oliver at Top Cat Studio, Wiltshire
Mastered by Bob Ludwig at Gateway Mastering, Portland, ME

Inspirationals:
The Interconnectedness Of All Things; the Revelator of the White Leafed Oak; the resurgence of Polly Olbion; Jean Stillwater; 1332 ½; Marco Pierre-W for vittles and hospitality; El Cosmico; the Neck Oil from the Magnificent Lord Beaver;
DJ Jorgé and the all-seeing eye; the exotica of Raqs Arabia; the most Venerable Cliques; Cymdeithas Owain Glyn Dŵr
and the steadfast Yam Yam.

Art Direction & Design by Richard Robinson
Cover Photo by Mads Perch
Photo Assistant: Gideon Marshall
Justin Adams & John Baggott Photo by Jay Blakesberg
Billy Fuller Photo by Oli Powell
Skin Tyson & Dave Smith Photo by Frank Melfi

“enwog yth wnair, gair gyrddbwyll armes, telynores twyll”

Nonesuch Selection Number

563057

ns_album_releasedate
Album Status
Artist Name
Robert Plant
MusicianDetails

MUSICIANS
Robert Plant

John Baggott, keyboards, Moog, loops, percussion, drums, brass arrangement, T’Bal, snare drum, slide guitar, piano, electric piano, Bendir
Justin Adams, guitar, acoustic guitar, oud, E-Bow Quartet, percussion, snare drum, tambourine
Dave Smith, Bendir, tambourine, djembe, drum kit
Liam “Skin” Tyson, dobro, guitar, acoustic guitar, pedal steel, 12-string

Guests:
Richard Ashton, drums on “Bluebirds Over The Mountain”
Redi Hasa, cello on “A Way With Words”, “Carry Fire”, “Bluebirds Over The Mountain”
Chrissie Hynde, vocals on “Bluebirds Over The Mountain”
Seth Lakeman, viola on “The May Queen”, “Carry Fire”, “Bluebirds Over The Mountain”

Cover Art
UPC/Price
Label
LP+MP3
Price
25.00
UPC
075597934861
Label
CD+MP3+Print
UPC
075597934854
Label
FLAC
Price
12.00
UPC
075597934885
Label
MP3
Price
11.00
UPC
075597934915
Label
96/24 HD FLAC
Price
16.00
UPC
075597934892
  • 563057

News & Reviews

  • Robert Plant's Digging Deep podcast has returned for its fourth season. He and co-host Matt Everitt pick up their conversation on the season opener with "Bluebirds Over the Mountain," a song written and recorded by Ersel Hickey in 1958 and made a hit by Ritchie Valens that same year. Plant recorded a version for his 2017 Nonesuch album, Carry Fire, with guest vocalist Chrissie Hynde. You can hear the podcast episode and watch the video for Plant's take on the song here.

  • The latest episode of Robert Plant's new podcast series, Digging Deep, digs deep into the title track from his latest album, Carry Fire. "The way that we've been constructing music for the last couple of albums with the Space Shifters has been pretty modular," he says. "Each guy in our cooperative creates ideas and sends them to me or to each other and they go up to the misty mountains ... There's a lot of sketches, some of them are black-and-white, some of them are going into color and that's how all these songs are developed." You can listen to the episode and watch a live performance of "Carry Fire" here.

  • About This Album

    Robert Plant's new album, Carry Fire, was released by Nonesuch/Warner Bros. Records on Friday, October 13, 2017.

    Carry Fire, Robert Plant's eleventh solo album and first full-length release since 2014's acclaimed lullaby and... The Ceaseless Roar, was produced by Plant in the west of England and Wales, at Top Cat studio in Box, Wiltshire with additional recordings at Real World and Rockfield studios. As with lullaby, Plant is accompanied by The Sensational Space Shifters: Justin Adams on guitar, acoustic guitar, oud, E-bow quartet, percussion, snare drum, tambourine; John Baggott on keyboards, moog, loops, percussion, drums, brass arrangement, t'bal, snare drum, slide guitar, piano, electric piano, bendir; Billy Fuller on bass, keyboards, and drum programming; Dave Smith on bendir, tambourine, djembe, drum kit; and Liam "Skin" Tyson on dobro, guitar, acoustic guitar, pedal steel, and twelve-string.

    Plant and the Space Shifters are also joined on Carry Fire by a number of special guests. Chrissie Hynde joins Plant on the duet "Bluebirds Over the Mountain" (written by rockabilly legend Ersel Hickey and later recorded by both Richie Valens and The Beach Boys). Albanian cellist Redi Hasa performs on three tracks, as does the celebrated Seth Lakeman on viola and fiddle.

    Plant and the Space Shifters (which now includes Lakeman) celebrate Carry Fire's release by beginning a world tour in November 2017 starting in UK & Ireland and touring all corners of globe from thereon. 

    Plant and the band spent two years on the road together supporting lullaby and... The Ceaseless Roar, their unique sound and vision ultimately evolving into something even more creative and powerful.

    Plant, who lived in Texas for a time before returning to his native England three years ago, together with his friends, present the songs Carry Fire, melding unusual rhythms with naturalism and smoldering power.

    "It's about intention, I respect and relish my past works but each time I feel the lure and incentive to create new work. I must mix old with new. Consequently the whole impetus of the band has moved on its axis somewhat, the new sound and different space giving way to exciting and dramatic landscapes of mood, melody and instrumentation."

    lullaby and... The Ceaseless Roar made top 10 debuts around the globe upon its release, from the US's SoundScan/Billboard 200 to album charts in Belgium, Canada, Finland, Hungary, Italy, New Zealand, Norway, Poland, Sweden, Switzerland, and the United Kingdom.

    Along with its international commercial appeal, lullaby and... The Ceaseless Roar drew rave reviews from such high profile media outlets as NPR Music, which named it to their 50 Favorite Albums of 2014, noting, that Plant "is still a majestic rock presence, at peace with the legacy of his hard-rock-defining band Led Zeppelin, while remaining relentlessly creative in his solo work … [The album] lovingly layers elements in ways that mirror memory, creating new constructs from floating shards of the musical past." "Robert Plant knows where rock's past begins and he's pulling it into the future," wrote the Wall Street Journal while the New York Times praised the singer's "otherworldly voice: sustained, androgynous, balanced between serenity and ache."

    Britain's Guardian declared lullaby and... The Ceaseless Roar to be "fantastic: gritty, dark, and satisfying" while also making special mention of Plant's "hugely impressive backing band, the Sensational Space Shifters… There's something almost alchemical about their ability to draw together incongruent musical influences into something coherent and exciting." Pitchfork called lullaby "the most bravely confessional writing of his career."

    Credits

    MUSICIANS
    Robert Plant

    John Baggott, keyboards, Moog, loops, percussion, drums, brass arrangement, T’Bal, snare drum, slide guitar, piano, electric piano, Bendir
    Justin Adams, guitar, acoustic guitar, oud, E-Bow Quartet, percussion, snare drum, tambourine
    Dave Smith, Bendir, tambourine, djembe, drum kit
    Liam “Skin” Tyson, dobro, guitar, acoustic guitar, pedal steel, 12-string

    Guests:
    Richard Ashton, drums on “Bluebirds Over The Mountain”
    Redi Hasa, cello on “A Way With Words”, “Carry Fire”, “Bluebirds Over The Mountain”
    Chrissie Hynde, vocals on “Bluebirds Over The Mountain”
    Seth Lakeman, viola on “The May Queen”, “Carry Fire”, “Bluebirds Over The Mountain”

    PRODUCTION CREDITS
    Produced by Robert Plant
    Recorded at The Attic Studio, Bristol; The Bee Barn, Bala; Billy Fuller’s Home Studio, Bristol; Black Earth Studios, Bath; Real World Studios, Box; Rockfield Studios, Monmouth.
    Additional recording by Justin Adams, John Baggott, Ben Findlay, Billy Fuller; Skin Tyson.
    Recording assistant at Rockfield: Joe Jones
    Recording assistant at Real World: Oli Middleton
    Most overdubs, vocals and a world of jangle & crash recorded by Tim Oliver at Top Cat Studio
    Chrissie Hynde vocal recorded by Dave McCracken at SARM and The Timberyard, London
    All tracks mixed by Tim Oliver at Top Cat Studio, Wiltshire
    Mastered by Bob Ludwig at Gateway Mastering, Portland, ME

    Inspirationals:
    The Interconnectedness Of All Things; the Revelator of the White Leafed Oak; the resurgence of Polly Olbion; Jean Stillwater; 1332 ½; Marco Pierre-W for vittles and hospitality; El Cosmico; the Neck Oil from the Magnificent Lord Beaver;
    DJ Jorgé and the all-seeing eye; the exotica of Raqs Arabia; the most Venerable Cliques; Cymdeithas Owain Glyn Dŵr
    and the steadfast Yam Yam.

    Art Direction & Design by Richard Robinson
    Cover Photo by Mads Perch
    Photo Assistant: Gideon Marshall
    Justin Adams & John Baggott Photo by Jay Blakesberg
    Billy Fuller Photo by Oli Powell
    Skin Tyson & Dave Smith Photo by Frank Melfi

    “enwog yth wnair, gair gyrddbwyll armes, telynores twyll”