Dr Michael Hammond: Review of ‘Into the Winter's Night’ by Owl in the Sun
by Dr Michael Hammond, Film, University of Southampton, April 2026
The other night we lit a fire, poured some wine, put on Owl in the Sun and journeyed ‘Into the Winter’s Night’, the title of their latest album. Through a reflective and playful type of English folk, that occasionally crosses the channel and at times the Atlantic, Owl in the Sun have come up with a beautiful collection of songs that range from outposts of despair and the ravages of history to the romance of the funfair and the defiance of love in the face of strong harsh winds.
Opening with ‘West to Portland’, the lament of a waitress caught between consequences and dreams, the song sets the premise for what will follow. We are on a journey guided by hands that have been there before and learned. The songs are lifted by a striking combination of arrangements, first class musicianship, and beguiling vocals and harmonies, clear and evocative, that work to bring the lyrics straight to the heart.
The tracks together make up a tapestry. There is a link between the woman caught in a midwestern town in America to the couple desperate to escape the crowds in London but not before they‘ve thrown their promises, like wishes, into the Thames. The couples who see their life magnified in ‘Hall of Mirrors’ laugh at the antics of their dog ‘Rocket’ and dance with ‘Light Feet’ . They have learned to delight in the such things. Underneath, in the yearning accordion of ‘Stars in a Box’, the lonesome low swaying of the bass in ‘Hall of Mirrors’, and the Appalachian inflected guitar in ‘Rocket’s Song’, there is a melancholy. These people have lived.
History, both human and geological are here. ‘Doggerland’ reminds us of the fragile balance of the ecosystem, while the brutal past of slavery informs ‘The Brookes Slaver,’ where a ship designer is asked to make ever smaller spaces to increase the ship’s cargo. ‘Hush Hush’ is a playfully serious outline of the temptations of greed and avarice. The song ‘Witness Marks’ acts as a reminder with the lines “Everything we do leaves a trace….”
Throughout, the album is lifted by infectious rhythms that underpin and at times counterbalance the subject matter of the songs. ‘Margarita Swing ‘and indeed ‘Dr Stage’ bring to mind speakeasies in the style of a 1920s vocal jazz group. How refreshing!
The album closes with the tender ‘Sweet Loving Heart’, a song that brings it all home, which of course is where the heart is. We put another log on the fire, poured more wine and spoke warmly of our journey Into the Winter’s Night with the wonderful Owl in the Sun.