Album of the Week – Lady Maisery, Jimmy Aldridge & Sid Goldsmith ‘Wakefire: A Summer Album’

This is the second collaborative collection involving Lady Maisery, Jimmy Aldridge & Sid Goldsmith with ‘Wakefire’ very much a natural progression from their 2019 release, ‘Awake Arise: A Winter Album.’ 

These hugely talented musicians have built Wakefire around the idea of summer as a time of expansion – long days, bright light and the sense of possibility that comes with warmth and growth.

The intriguing songs explore how summer affects the land, the body, the community and the imagination.

Starting with May Day it’s centred round annual rituals, particularly the Padstow Oss, where you can see a large circular hobbyhorse costume made of a black cape and a stylised horse’s head. Inside the frame, there is a dancer whirling, lunging and capturing onlookers as the procession moves through the town.

There’s also the Workers’ Holiday, a great socialist event, that Lady Maisery’s Rowan Rheingans used to attend with her father. The story moves on, through songs, readings and poetry, to Midsummer and concludes with Harvest time.

Rowan talked to Hugh Taylor about the album in an interview conducted while the trio was driving along a motorway, heading to the next gig on their recent tour.

You can listen to Rowan and Hugh’s conversation on today’s Album of the Week Show that starts at midday.

Album of the Week Show – Hugh Taylor chats with Lady Maisery’s, Rowan Rheingans – Saturday, May 16, 2026 – noon.