Trembling Bells were a Scottish

folk rock Folk rock is a hybrid music genre that combines the elements of folk music, folk and rock music, rock music, which arose in the United States, Canada, and the United Kingdom in the mid-1960s. In the U.S., folk rock emerged from the American fo ...

group formed in 2008 by drummer

Alex Neilson Alex Neilson (born 22 September 1982) is an English drummer, percussionist and singer who is based in Glasgow but grew up in Leeds. He is a founding member and main songwriter of folk-rock group Trembling Bells (2008-2018). He is also known for ...

, a musician with a history of free and improvised playing with several artists. Based in Glasgow, the group released three albums through

Honest Jon's Records Honest Jon's is a British independent record shop based on Portobello Road in Ladbroke Grove, London, operating since 1974. The shop is owned and run by Mark Ainley and Alan Scholefield, who took over from one of the original proprietors, "Hone ...

. A fourth, ''The Sovereign Self'', was released on 29 June 2015, followed by an EP in 2016, both on

Tin Angel Records Tin Angel Records is a British independent record label. History Tin Angel Records has founded in 2007 with Devon Sproule's '' Keep Your Silver Shined''. The album received critical acclaim and led to Sproule appearing live on Later... with ...

. Their last album, ''Dungeness'', was released in March 2018. In September 2018, frontwoman Lavinia Blackwall announced she was leaving the band after 10 years. Following a further run of gigs, the band announced they were to split, with members focussing on their individual projects.

Career

Neilson had previously collaborated with

early music Early music generally comprises Medieval music (500–1400) and Renaissance music (1400–1600), but can also include Baroque music (1600–1750). Originating in Europe, early music is a broad musical era for the beginning of Western classic ...

vocalist and musician Lavinia Blackwall, in the

free improvisation Free improvisation or free music is improvised music without any rules beyond the logic or inclination of the musician(s) involved. The term can refer to both a technique (employed by any musician in any genre) and as a recognizable genre in it ...

folk music Folk music is a music genre that includes traditional folk music and the contemporary genre that evolved from the former during the 20th-century folk revival. Some types of folk music may be called world music. Traditional folk music has ...

project, Directing Hand. Neilson gathered a group from members of his previous musical projects, consisting of bassist Simon Shaw (formerly of Lucky Luke) and guitarist Ben Reynolds along with occasional players George Murray (trombone) and Aby Vuillamy (viola), both formerly of Scatter and The One Ensemble. The group signed to

in 2009 and released debut ''Carbeth'' in April 2009. The album was well received by critics. ''Carbeth'' holds a 76 (mostly favourable) rating from 7 reviews at

Metacritic Metacritic is a website that aggregates reviews of films, TV shows, music albums, video games and formerly, books. For each product, the scores from each review are averaged (a weighted average). Metacritic was created by Jason Dietz, Marc ...

. The band's second album, ''Abandoned Love'', was co-produced with

Belle and Sebastian Belle and Sebastian are a Scottish indie pop band formed in Glasgow in 1996. Led by Stuart Murdoch, the band has released eleven albums. They are often compared with acts such as The Smiths and Nick Drake. The name "Belle and Sebastian" comes ...

member

Stevie Jackson Stephen Jackson (born 16 January 1969) is a Scottish people, Scottish musician and songwriter. He plays lead guitar and sings in the Glasgow-based Indie (music), indie band Belle and Sebastian. Career Jackson's early musical influences includ ...

and released a year later in April 2010. Between albums Ben Reynolds was replaced by Mike Hastings on guitar. The critical response to this album was again positive. "Hidebound fol-de-rolling is just not an option for this band; they take the antic forms, loosen them and make them arresting and new once more." wrote Kitty Empire in ''The Guardian''. Comparing with the debut album John Mulvey said that "The same elements remain – though perhaps less String Bandish whimsy – but this time, Trembling Bells are gutsier, more forthright, glowing with confidence" ''Abandoned Love'' was tipped as a possible nomination for the 2010

Mercury Music Prize The Mercury Prize, formerly called the Mercury Music Prize, is an annual music prize awarded for the best album released in the United Kingdom by a British or Irish act. It was created by Jon Webster and Robert Chandler in association with the B ...

, but their label did not enter the album into the contest. Third album, ''The Constant Pageant'' was released on 21 March 2011. Reviews were again generally favourable. Critics observed a move towards mainstream pop Popmatters gave the album nine out of ten, stating "We should probably be careful about reading too much development into the material on album number three, because some of it appears to date back to the time of their debut (“Goathland”, for example, was in the band’s live repertoire from the start). Even so, it is still tempting to say that The Constant Pageant is the strongest collection Trembling Bells have yet put out." The reviewer for Uncut gave a mixed review, writing "one hopes the band will not steer too close to plain old indie rock." The album has an 81 out of 100 at Metacritic based on 5 reviews. Trembling Bells performed a

BBC Radio 6 Music BBC Radio 6 Music is a British digital radio station owned and operated by the BBC, specialising primarily in alternative music. BBC 6 Music was the first national music radio station to be launched by the BBC in 32 years. It is available on ...

session on the

Marc Riley Marc Riley (born 10 July 1961 in Manchester) is an English radio DJ, alternative rock critic, musician, and former music businessman. He currently presents on BBC Radio 6 Music. Formerly a member of the Fall, he co-owned a record label, In-Tap ...

show on Monday 6 June 2011. A fourth Trembling Bells album, ''The Sovereign Self'', was released by

on 29 June 2015. A fifth album, ''Wide Majestic Aire'', came out on 1 April 2016, also on Tin Angel Records. Album number six, ''Dungeness'', was released on 30 March 2018, again on Tin Angel Records. Following Lavinia Blackwall's announcement she was leaving the band, Trembling Bells decided to split at the end of 2018. Their final release was a 2019 Record Store Day 10", ''I am the King'', a joint work with Alex Neilson's solo project Alex Rex. Blackwall released her debut solo single "Waiting for Tomorrow" in December 2018, followed by an album, ''Muggington Lane End'', in May 2020. Simon Shaw went on to be a member of Youth of America, who released their debut album ''YOA Rising'' in January 2019 on Fighting Swans Records, and MONICA with Ian Stoddart from The Apples/ Aberfeldy. MONICA's debut album ''Celebration'' was released a couple of months before Stoddart died, on the 24 April 2020. It received a 4 star review in ''The Scotsman'' newspaper and was compared to the work of The Blue Nile.

Influences and style

Trembling Bells' references late 1960s psychedelia and British folk revival acts such as

Fairport Convention Fairport Convention are an English folk rock band, formed in 1967 by guitarists Richard Thompson and Simon Nicol, bassist Ashley Hutchings and drummer Shaun Frater (with Frater replaced by Martin Lamble after their first gig.) They started ...

and the

Incredible String Band The Incredible String Band (sometimes abbreviated as ISB) were a Scottish psychedelic folk band formed by Clive Palmer, Robin Williamson and Mike Heron in Edinburgh in 1966. The band built a considerable following, especially in the British co ...

. Lavinia Blackwall's soaring vocal style has drawn comparisons to

Sandy Denny Alexandra Elene MacLean Denny (6 January 1947 – 21 April 1978) was an English singer who was lead singer of the British folk rock band Fairport Convention. She has been described as "the pre-eminent British folk rock singer". After briefly w ...

and

We Five We Five was a 1960s folk rock musical group based in San Francisco, California. Their best-known hit was their 1965 remake of Ian & Sylvia's " You Were on My Mind", which reached No. 1 on the Cashbox chart, #3 on the ''Billboard'' Hot 100, and ...

Beverly Bivens Beverly (Bev) Ann Bivens is the former the lead singer of the American West Coast folk rock group We Five from 1965 to 1967. Since 2021 she has been the original band’s last surviving member. After her marriage to jazz musician Fred Marshall ...

Stuart Maconie Stuart Maconie (born 13 August 1961) is an English radio DJ and television presenter, writer, journalist, and critic working in the field of pop music and popular culture. He is currently a presenter on BBC Radio 6 Music where, alongside Mark ...

described their music as "wild and romantic, witty and heartbreaking", saying that "It has both the charm of folk music and the power of rock". John Mulvey has said "the rickety spirit of various

Pastels A pastel () is an art medium in a variety of forms including a stick, a square a pebble or a pan of color; though other forms are possible; they consist of powdered pigment and a binder. The pigments used in pastels are similar to those us ...

Bill Wells Bill Wells (born c. 1963)Strong, Martin C. (2003) "Bill Wells", in ''The Great Indie Discography'', Canongate, is a Scottish bassist, pianist, guitarist and composer. Biography Wells is completely self-taught, and began performing in clubs in ...

affiliates can be heard occasionally"

Live performances and tours

Trembling Bells played at

Green Man Festival The Green Man Festival is an independent music, science and arts festival held annually in mid-August in the Brecon Beacons, Wales. Green Man has evolved into a 25,000 capacity week long event, showcasing predominantly live music (in particular ...

2009. In 2010 they performed at All Tomorrow's Parties Bowlie Weekender 2 curated by Belle and Sebastian. The group toured the UK and

Ireland Ireland ( ; ga, Éire ; Ulster Scots dialect, Ulster-Scots: ) is an island in the Atlantic Ocean, North Atlantic Ocean, in Northwestern Europe, north-western Europe. It is separated from Great Britain to its east by the North Channel (Grea ...

in Spring 2011 to promote ''The Constant Pageant'' In August 2011, the group conducted a 5-date tour of the UK in collaboration with

Mike Heron James Michael Heron (born 27 December 1942) is a Scottish singer, songwriter and multi-instrumentalist, best known for his work in the Incredible String Band in the 1960s and 1970s. Career Heron was born in Edinburgh, Scotland, and attended the ...

of the

. Reviewing their

London London is the capital and List of urban areas in the United Kingdom, largest city of England and the United Kingdom, with a population of just under 9 million. It stands on the River Thames in south-east England at the head of a estuary dow ...

show at the

Vortex Jazz Club The Vortex Jazz Club is a music venue in London, England. It was founded by David Mossman in the 1988. Background The Vortex started as a jazz club in 1988 and was located in Stoke Newington Church Street, north London. But after the acquisit ...

Robin Denselow gave it four out of five stars and said the gig was "This was an intriguing double bill, matching one of the originators of the experimental British psych-folk scene against its most interesting current exponents." Mike Heron & Trembling Bells with Shelah McDonald, Oran Mor - Glasgow 2 August 2013. They conducted a small return tour around the UK together in December 2014, which Freq described as being as if "you were transported back to that hazy time in the ’60s when music was magical and could open different doors to whole new experiences".

Band members

The final (2018) lineup of Trembling Bells was: * Lavinia Blackwall (keyboard, guitar, vocal) *

(drums, vocal) * Michael Hastings (guitar, vocal) *

Simon Shaw Simon Dalton Shaw MBE (born 1 September 1973) is a former English rugby union player who played as a lock. He played for Bristol, London Wasps and Toulon. He won 71 caps for England between 1996 and 2011, and 2 for the British & Irish Lions, ...

(bass guitar, vocal) *

Alasdair Mitchell Alasdair Mitchell (born 1950) is a British classical music conductor. Mitchell is best known for his recordings with Chandos Records, which include ''Farrar Orchestral Works''. "The pioneering efforts of conductor Alasdair Mitchell… and the P ...

(keyboard, guitar, vocal)

Discography

Albums

* 2009 ''Carbeth'' * 2010 ''Abandoned Love'' * 2011 ''The Constant Pageant'' * 2012 '' The Marble Downs'' with

Bonnie Prince Billy Joseph Will Oldham (born January 15, 1970) is an American singer-songwriter and actor. From 1993 to 1997, he performed and recorded in collaboration with dozens of other musicians under variations of Palace (Palace, Palace Flophouse, Palace Br ...

* 2015 ''The Sovereign Self'' * 2016 ''Wide Majestic Aire'' (EP) * 2018 ''

Dungeness Dungeness () is a headland on the coast of Kent, England, formed largely of a shingle beach in the form of a cuspate foreland. It shelters a large area of low-lying land, Romney Marsh. Dungeness spans Dungeness Nuclear Power Station, the hamle ...

Singles

* 2010 "New Year's Eve's the Loneliest Night of the Year" (with

and

) * 2014 "New Trip on the Old Wine" / "Lay It Down" (with Bonnie Prince Billy) * 2015 "Hallelujah" / " Wah Wah" (

Record Store Day Record Store Day is an annual event inaugurated in 2007 and held on one Saturday (typically the third) every April and every Black Friday in November to "celebrate the culture of the independently owned record store". The day brings together fa ...

release) * 2016 "Who Call the Law?" / "Made for the May" (Record Store Day release) * 2017 "

The Auld Triangle "The Auld Triangle" is a song by Dick Shannon, often attributed to Brendan Behan, who made it famous when he included it in his 1954 play ''The Quare Fellow''. He first performed it publicly in 1952 on the RTE radio programme 'The Ballad Maker's ...

" (Record Store Day release, split 10" with

Alex Rex Alex Neilson (born 22 September 1982) is an English drummer, percussionist and singer who is based in Glasgow but grew up in Leeds. He is a founding member and main songwriter of folk-rock group Trembling Bells (2008-2018). He is also known f ...

) * 2019 "I am the King" (Record Store Day release, split 10" with Alex Rex)

References

External links

Official website
{{Authority control Scottish folk music groups Musical groups from Glasgow Musical groups established in 2008 Musical groups disestablished in 2018