A confession to begin: I’ve been a fan of Alison Cotton’s music for quite a while, so the announcement of a new album definitely brought me a frisson of delight. The Gods Laugh certainly doesn’t disappoint, with the same deliciously amorphous feel that’s defined her other work, drawing on folk, the avant-garde, as well as a sense of religiosity to make the music here, possibly best exemplified in “I Am!”, where she set a poem by John Clare, England’s great nature poet, to a transcendent melody over the constant underpinning of a lulling drone.

While the playing revolves around her usual arsenal of viola, harmonium, hammered dulcimer, and piano, along with some percussion, on this album she also adds some drums, bass and synthesizer. The music is often improvised and captured in a single take, with an almost mystical, hushed sensibility that seems to reach through time, as with “I Still Know You are Calling My Name,” where the tune could have been plucked from an old folk song.

The centerpiece, however, is “Sprigs of Heather,” with an opening that recalls medieval sacred music that becomes a simple, slowly cascading, piano-led melody. It’s far from the longest track on the album, but a little pearl of perfection that carries the listener away.

The Gods Laugh is a memorial of sorts to Cotton’s father, who died in late 2024. There’s a sense of loss reaching across these tracks, most specifically present on “The Final Harvest,” a solemn piece about her father’s last visit to the allotment he loved so much. It’s suffused with tenderness that extends beyond words.

Light and darkness bleed into each other across the music, and moods shift. It’s music that happily stands beyond category, with hints of so many things, but ultimately standing as Alison Cotton music, which might well be all the definition it needs. It will challenge you but also satisfy and move you. What more can you wish from music?

Find the artist online.

More to hear:
United States of Alchemy - Songs of Compassion (Review)
Dani Jané - Vida (Review)

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