Details: A FINE COMPANION is an album of newly-composed settings of troubadour songs and texts, written in a dream-pop /shoegaze/ psychedelic rock style for an amplified combination of medieval and new instruments. The texts of this project were chosen by Charles Mueller (composer) and the ensemble, with a focus on troubadour lyrics that expand or refute the standard tropes of chivalrous love by choosing poems from a feminine perspective, and by delving into the metaphysical and spiritual subsets of the genre. The unbridled sensuality of the arrangements create space for a raw experience that inspires a visceral reaction in the listener. Mueller has used pre-existing troubadour music as a melodic and modal prompt on a number of pieces, with direct quotations organically morphing as if in an inspired game of telephone.

Tracklist:

the switch with which one switches oneself
love is like the spark (escoutatz!)
seguin + valensa
i know a lady
judas
nor
the butterfly
(find yourself) a fine companion
d'aurenga

Alkemie - A Fine Companion (Vinyl LP)