It’s not often that church music (other than that of the American south gospel variety) reaches out to us but when we listened to the five songs (or meditations perhaps) which constitute the latest release from Ghostwriter we were somewhat spellbound. Helmed by Mark Brend (who plays most of the instruments) and featuring the assorted talents of My Darling Clementine’s Michael Weston King, folk singer Suzy Mangion and Anglican Bishop Andrew Rumsey, the disc is an immersive dive into a dread fuelled world, the heavy hand of God and the fear of Hell manning the tiller. Brend’s skilful mix of wheezing organs and ambient sounds provide the vaulting heights of awe and wonder one experiences when visiting a grand gothic cathedral while much of the settings remind one of the heydays of the more esoteric shores of freak folk.

While memories of such as The Incredible String Band, along with a whiff of Robert Wyatt, are evoked, the song which most  came to mind when listening to Tremulant was the brief  Fairport Convention number, The Lord Is In This Place, from their 1969 album What We Did On Our Holidays. Musically they are miles apart but they share a mood.

The album opens with Weston King singing Satan, Your Kingdom must Come Down, a song most folk here might associate with uncle Tupelo. Here, it comes across with the power of a slavery era spiritual wail. It’s followed by the lengthy pipe organ hymnal I Stand Amazed, drawn from a 1905 hymn which celebrates the death of Christ on the Calvary Cross and his resurrection. There’s a hushed and reverential mood here as the song, oh so slowly, treads a path between old English folk idioms and church rituals. It’s a calming presence, a balm for the soul if you are ever in need of one.

There’s a brief instrumental aside (which most reminds one of the aforementioned Fairport Convention number) on Here before the ambient sounds of Often Forfeit tumble out, the introduction eventually leading into another wheezy organ filled ancient hymn with a coda which seems to owe much to the eccentric sounds of Harry Partch. The disc ends with another lengthy song on The Anchor. It opens with Weston King in vicar mode, blessing his ship faring congregation before the most conventional folk sounds on the disc briefly appear. Thereafter, it’s a collage of sounds and songs all blended within its 16 minutes with Mangion delivering a hauntingly beautiful interlude. Harking back to Fairport Convention, The Anchor, while not resembling it in any way, reminds one of their seafaring adventure on A Sailor’s Life in that both songs take a tradition and cast it anew, albeit in drastically different directions.

It’s not an album you would bring to a party but Tremulant is certainly food for thought in these troubled times. Even the most secular listener should find some calm within its grooves, stick it on a playlist to follow on from Gavin Bryars’ Jesus’ Blood Never Failed Me Yet.

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