English folk singer Richard Dawson is collaborating with Finnish heavy metal band Circle for an epic collaborative album titled Henki.
They have shared the music video of their first single, ‘Lily’, featuring Dawson playing an intense game of snooker with professional player Steve Davis.
Avant-garde folk artist Richard Dawson and pioneers of the new wave of Finnish heavy metal Circle have formed a musical alliance with the announcement of their collaborative record Henki.
Henki, set for release on November 26, will be a departure from Dawson’s previous solo albums Peasant (2017) and 2020 (2019).
Fans can expect to listen to an original record that merges the unbridled creativity between the two acts, resulting in seven tracks named after plants.
Dawson explains the album’s title,
“The word ‘henki’ roughly translates as ‘spirit’. It’s a very rich word, supple in its meaning in the same way as the Geordie ‘canny’; difficult to pin down.”
The group have shared the first track of the album titled ‘Lily’, which takes inspiration from the ghostly visions seen by Dawson’s mother during her tenure as a nurse at the Royal Victoria Infirmary in Newcastle-upon-Tyne.
The six minute-long music video for ‘Lily’, directed by Mika Taanila, features Dawson challenging Steve Davis to a game of snooker.
The video premiered today via World Snooker, the first time the website has featured a music video.
The partnership between Richard Dawson and Circle was born out of mutual respect of each other, resulting in Dawson accompanying the metal band for their set at Helsinki’s Sideways Festival in 2019.
Dawson recalls,
“It was like being a teenager and suddenly being asked to go onstage with Iron Maiden. That’s how important this band are to me”.
Soon after, the two acts began exchanging demos and recording the material in the city of Pori in Finland until January this year before COVID-19 forced them to work remotely.
Henki is available to pre-order on now.
Henki Tracklist
- Cooksonia
- Ivy
- Silphium
- Silene
- Methuselah
- Lily
- Pitcher
Photo credit: Antti Uusimäki
