The Waterboys
Universal Hall

In my opinion, Mike Scott, more than just a simple neo-pagan, could actually be a real witch, specifically a Pictish witch, Scottish by tradition, and pursuing the harmonization of the self with various elements of nature. Of course, he could also be linked to the Caledonian witchcraft tradition, as it is Scottish as well, being a form of "Art" not solitary, but to be lived in community. Furthermore, his historical tracks like "The Pan Within" and "The Return Of Pan" reveal his knowledge of the Dianic pantheon (Pan, if I’m not mistaken, is among other things considered the god of music and ecstatic abandonment through it).

Anyway, just read the lyrics of the songs in this "Universal Hall" (not that the previous albums were any less, though!) to realize how his mind is nothing short of being influenced by knowledge, insights, studies, and clichés between neopaganism and magic. But what am I saying? Reading the lyrics is superfluous; just take a look at the tracklist! There abound titles halfway between "animist", "christian rock" and the witch, like "This Light Is For The World, Seek The Light, I've Lived Here Before, E.B.O.L." (that is, Eternal Being Of Love)... And if we also include "Peace Of Iona", the much-celebrated (by him) island of millennial pilgrimages and rituals, where Scott appreciates the peace of its stones, the gravel of its beach, the rocks, the plants, the birds, and so on, then you understand the connection to Pictish Art rather than the Work of Saint Francis.

This album was recorded in the underground studio of the Universal Hall, an evocative pentagonal theater (!) all wood and decorated glass, located in Findhorn, Scotland, a new age city-community and his last (there's a good chance it could be the final) residence, and it is dedicated to it. A symbol, for those huge angel-wing-shaped windows on the main entrance doors, a symbol for its shape, for the decorations on the glass by an American artist, a symbol because it’s a gigantic wooden structure entirely immersed in the forest... The symbol of a city, a community, a culture, and above all, a lifestyle: neopaganism.

And in the middle of winter, in the heart of this beautiful Scottish wood, this album of spiritual and sparse folk, theatrical and minimal at the same time was born. It goes beyond folk, and the typical guitars of the genre no longer strum; nor do the drums roll, the piano keys, once pressed, emit sounds that don’t echo, and the Celtic fiddle doesn’t screech... This is the folk of Findhorn, Scotland: bare arrangements, sounds that do not erect the rightful wall.

Mike Scott and his sound no longer have anything to do with the rich and vibrant Fisherman’s Blues: it’s winter, in Findhorn, and it’s freezing cold, and the snow fallen abundantly mutes everything. Scott chooses to focus on the atmospheres, and a good part of the tracks, besides being stripped down in arrangements, have either very simple lyrics or almost none at all: "Christ In You, Silent Fellowship, Ain't No Words For The Things I'm Feeling" and "E.B.O.L." are like this: two, three lines, and then ice, wood, voice, and glass.

Halfway between a country-man and the star of a musical, Scott goes solo at the piano in "I've Lived Here Before", while in "Always Dancing, Never Getting Tired" you expect a drum to finally rise, and instead... The emotions implode, and the fiddle fulfills its duty all the way, in the ritual of "Peace Of Iona". There are also prayer-like invocations (Mike will be mistaken forever for a Christian fundamentalist), a very frosty Christmas song (at least it seems so), some soul-folk, an electric storm (the only one) in "Seek The Light"...

Moments of great inspiration undoubtedly go hand in hand with lesser episodes, but what matters, all the more so this time, is the atmosphere: wintry, as mentioned, and peaceful, highly spiritual, pan-like but calm. Pagan and reassuring, like a unique yet quiet town where one might spend the winter.