Ahead of his full album to follow that goes by the name of Converging Paths, Ker offers us a first taste of what’s to come in the form of his debut single, “Wondering On Giants.” And it proves to be an intriguing and eloquent first footing indeed.
Blending the spacious folk traditions of the seventies singer-songwriter with a more modern, gently rock-infused energy, it is perhaps best described as an elemental track. If the sonics are effortlessly likable, to the point of being lilting and infectious, the lyrics tell a timeless landscape, rugged and evocative. But it describes not just the physical sights, but the spiritual sites too; this is the ancient earth, its hills and streams, mountain peaks and valleys venerated in modern sacred song, following in the footsteps of a tradition as old as song itself.
If “Wondering on Giants” brilliantly blends modernity and tradition in its sonics, then so do its lyrics, making Ker nothing if not the modern-day troubadour, the contemporary bard translating the song of the land into a form perfect for the current age. And when I say land, I mean so much more than its mere physical attributes.
Get yourself right inside the song, let it seduce you and carry you out of time and you will find it humbling experience, transporting you to the shadow of the mountain, a feature millions of years old, stood by the stream that has taken millennia to cut a valley, the rolling hills that provided the trackways and trails for ancient feet, all under the brooding, majestic skies.
If you don’t embrace those descriptions and realise just how brief our lives are and just how inconsequential our impact on the land, then you might be everything that is wrong with the modern age! Sorry, I don’t make the rules; that’s just how it is!
