IAIN ARCHER To The Pine Roots (2009 UK 9-track CD album - Conceived and recorded in a cottage by the Black Forest and imbued with the voices and performances of friends and family, 'To The Pine Roots' is an ethereal album, recorded at the point of writing and humming with imperceptible sounds. The whisper of instantly recalled melodies, the burring of an age-old harmonium, the ghostly reverb of pinewood walls and escapist rhythms teased from an acoustic guitar, distantly recalling a Celtic past. From the hazy recollections of childhood, he draws vivid the scenes of 'Black Mountain Quarry' and 'Streamer On A Kite'; with a playwrights gift for characterization 'The Acrobat' and 'The Nightwatchman', pertinent metaphors for life and living; and at the albums core 'Frozen Lake', a steepling spire of a love song with a fragile voice, buoyed and raised by harmonium and strings. It is a rare gift afforded to few contemporary writers, that ability to switch guise and muse. But on 'To The Pine Roots', Iain Archer has created nine supreme examples of the songwriting craft.)