Harp release their debut album 'Albion'

Harp, the musical project of former Midlake singer Tim Smith and his wife Kathi Zung, release their debut album Albion today on Bella Union.

The new album is steeped in sublime melody, mood, drama and detail, its ten songs and two mood-matching instrumentals are framed by a mesh of acoustic/electric guitars, soft shades of keyboards and Tim Smith’s gorgeous voice; in other words, the quintessence of what drew people in the first place to his work with Midlake. 

Albion has starker, darker hues than Smith is typically renowned for, which lifts Albion to new heights in his canon; likewise, the level of personal revelation. These are songs about the human condition, from love - both lost and found – to faith, anxiety to joy, fear to acceptance, all couched in a highly distinct poetic language. The lead track “I Am The Seed”, a song about creativity and helplessness, is a perfect entry point, sounding simultaneously blissful and haunting whilst capturing the changes that Smith has gone through since he went solo. 

Smith had been working for years on a set of new tracks for his debut album but he set them aside and began again when a new source of inspiration arrived. “Along came ‘80s music,” he explains. “I knew of bands and I had heard the odd song, but I had never dug deep into Joy Division, Cocteau Twins, The Smiths, Tears For Fears before. The major album for me though was The Cure’s Faith, which I listened to non-stop for three years. That music really resonated with me, so I was led in a different direction, which took a long time to figure out, because I was on my own, learning how to record better, mix better, write better.”