Agent Starling's ‘Northern Lights Trilogy’ - a blast of seasonal cheer

One of the most innovative bands to appear in the past year has been Agent Starling, who have wasted no time in following up their debut album European Howl with a gorgeous seasonal EP offering - Northern Lights Trilogy.  

Agent Starling is an unusual duo, a pairing of hurdy-gurdy player Quentin Budworth with Louise Duffy-Howard (aka Lou Loudhailer.) Back in the 1980s, the latter was the bassist with one of my favourite indie bands, Red Guitars. When lockdown restrictions scuppered their usual musical projects, the two decided to create Agent Starling and record European Howl, a complex, immersive and at times disorienting listening experience. Its opening track ‘Helicopter Arms’ set the tone – pulsating, intriguing, the distinctive droning, buzzing but melodic sound of the hurdy-gurdy and whispered, spoken-word vocals (à la Traffic’s ‘Hole in My Shoe’.)

There were some traditional tunes on the album too – an agreeably ambient version of the Elizabethan carol ‘Drive the Cold Winter Away’ and a suitably inebriated-sounding ‘The Parting Glass’. By contrast, ‘Minor Surgery’ was a cyber-Morricone soundtrack with whipcrack noises and a splendid rumbling bassline. Throughout, the contributions of guest violinist/cellist Dexter Duffy-Howard added a lot to the overall texture.

So, I was delighted to hear that Agent Starling had decided to follow on from this engaging and original debut with the Northern Lights Trilogy EP or, as Lou describes it, “three new festive singles that add a bountiful sprinkling of bells, twinkles and festive spirit to our catchy hurdy-gurdy tunes, hypnotic drones, live bass grooves & strings.”

The three festive singles in question are ‘The Cordwainer’s Lament’, ‘Northern Lights’ and ‘Stockport Polka’. ‘The Cordwainer’s Lament’ sounds like an atmospheric musical walk down a snowy country lane. ‘Northern Lights’ is not – in case you were wondering - the 1978 hit by prog-rock band Renaissance but a totally different song, which mixes spoken-word with musical quotes from Prokofiev’s ‘Troika’ (if it was good enough for Greg Lake to borrow, it’s good enough for Agent Starling.) It’s a joyful, wintry offering. Amid a soundscape of sleigh bells and church bells, Lou sings “I know you yearn for calm, long for night, but my heart dances with the Northern Lights.” Finally, we have the exuberant ‘Stockport Polka’ (familiar as the tune that Jona Lewie used for his unlikely 1980 Christmas hit, ‘Stop the Cavalry’) but here performed with plenty of cymbals and a warbling sound on the hurdy-gurdy that sounds strangely like steel drums.

It’s all terrific fun and, for me, it’s the 2021 equivalent of the Cocteau Twins’ glorious 1993 Christmas EP Snow. If you’re short of Christmas cheer this year, you could do worse than to go to Bandcamp and get hold of the Northern Lights Trilogy.

But that’s not all! I’m reliably informed that Agent Starling are poised to release a second album in 2022. And, as if these weren't enough glad tidings, Red Guitars have reformed and, if the fates allow, will be touring in 2022.