The new instrumental album Rewilding by maverick English composer and concert guitarist Richard Durrant is a highly topical musical fantasy.

Led by Durrant’s guitars, ukuleles and cello, this uplifting and optimistic album has a sharp focus on the natural world and more than a hint of English prog. The joyful power of the track “The Return” and spiritual depth of “Leaf” suggest this is Durrant at his best.

The album is clearly inspired by the natural world and, in particular, nature’s ability to regenerate when freed from the worst of mankind’s interferences.  Indeed, it was at Knepp Wilding project in Sussex where Richard performed a gig with a nightingale and folk singer Sam Lee one summer’s night back in 2018, that much of the inspiration began to coalesce.

Richard’s friendship with Knepp wildlife officer Penny Green and Isabella Tree’s wonderful book “Wilding” helped inform the album whilst birdsong, including the famous Knepp nightingales, can be heard throughout Rewilding (from field recordings by Richard Beason).

Production values are also sky high with Durrant recording on handmade valve mics to do justice to his collection of beautiful instruments.

A Gary Southwell, bog oak concert guitar, ukuleles by Pete Howlett and a 1965 Gibson SG (to name but a few) are heard alongside Brian Gulland’s bassoon and crumhorns – it makes listening to Rewilding from the hi-rez audio files almost compulsory.

Could this be his Tubular Bells for the Covid generation? 

Durrant began composing Rewilding in January 2020 continuing throughout lockdown. As he says himself: “The world changed and so did my music”. 

With Covid19 came the cancellation of Richard’s concerts. His solo 2020 tour was to have been from St Magnus Cathedral, Orkney to Santiago de Compostela in Spain cycling between venues carrying his instruments on his bicycle.

This was Durrant’s way to inspire discussion about the climate change crisis but the loss of this major project (and the cancellation of his two guitar summer schools) wiped out 18 months of planning and a year’s income.

Thankfully it also allowed the composer extra time at home working on new music for the album and pushing production values through the roof.

Says Durrant: “Throughout all that has happened the concept of re-wilding (nature’s path of least resistance) has held my interest.

“Many ideas for beautiful sounds and combinations of instruments arrived as a consequence – turtle doves, contra-bassoon, nightingales, cello, cuckoos, ukuleles, oboe and berimbau. They’re all there on the new album!”

Durrant’s multi-instrumental skills are complimented by four other musicians who appear on the album: Brian Gulland (founder member of cult British band Gryphon) plays bassoon, contra-bassoon, oboe, recorders, crumhorns, organ & harmonium; Stephen Hiscock (EnsembleBash, Harrison-Birtwistle) plays exotic percussion whilst two of the Durrant children also appear – Daisy on accordion and brother Django Durrant on cajon and drums.

Even the youngest Durrant (Felix), despite being a fine bass player and pianist, had to be content with the job of tape-op for his Dad during the lockdown recording sessions!

To reflect the new science facilitated by re-wilding, one half of the album is about the Superterranean (above ground) whilst the other is set in the Subterranean.

The British “unrealist” artist Jon Everitt’s striking work on the gatefold sleeve design plays wonderfully with this idea as does the detail on the inner sleeve created by soil scientist David Sheil (close inspection reveals the musicians depicted as protozoa gently flocculating the soil amongst the mycorrhizal fungi).