Stunning Gaelic folk single 'Ceithir Gaothan na h-Alba' (The Four Winds of Scotland) by Julie Fowlis & Oliver Cox - out 15th Mar
LUSH FRESH HANDMADE SOUND PRESENTS
Oliver Cox & Julie Fowlis
'Ceithir Gaothan na h-Alba'
(The Four Winds of Scotland)
SINGLE OUT 15 MARCH 2024 VIA COSMETIC WARRIORS
PRE-SAVE HERE
Taken from the brand new Lush Spa Highlands Spa Treatment Soundtrack
On 15 March 2024, Lush Fresh Handmade Sound presents Ceithir Gaothan na h-Alba (The Four Winds of Scotland) a brand-new single from composer Oliver Cox & folk artist Julie Fowlis, the first release from the new Lush Spa Highlands Spa Treatment soundtrack.
Ceithir Gaothan na h-Alba is a beautiful and gentle traditional folk song, written by Oliver Cox and Julie Fowlis to the poem by Scottish writer George Campbell Hay. Oliver’s skilful piano sets you in motion as you take your first steps over the rolling meadow hills, while Julie‘s pensive vocal, singing in Scottish Gaelic transports you to the magical and untamed wilderness of the Scottish Highlands.
Oliver Cox: ‘I composed the music for Ceithir Gaothan Na H’Alba whilst on a campervan trip in Scotland. The first piano sketches came to me whilst on the wild Ardnamurchan peninsula, in the shadow of Beinn Resipol. I always knew it would be a song, I just hadn’t found the words or melody yet, so was excited when Julie agreed to collaborate. Her beautiful melody weaves over and around my piano part in such a unique way.”
The song is being released to celebrate the exclusive launch of Lush’s brand new 60 min full body, hot stone Highlands Spa Treatment at their Glasgow and Edinburgh stores from March 1st (launching in Lush Spas globally in September 2024). Like previous Lush Spa treatments, the Highlands features a bespoke soundtrack lovingly created by a handful of talented musicians deeply immersed in the themes of this unique piece of work, these include: Simon Emmerson, Richard Evans, Ged Lynch, Ewen Henderson, Julie Fowlis, Èamon Doorley, Oliver Cox, Martin O’Neill, Simon Richmond and creative direction support Luise London. However this collaboration is unlike any other. From the initial idea to the completion of the treatment, Lush’s Spa therapists, in this case Jody Bailey worked closely with the musicians on the treatment development. It’s a back and forth of ideas, not only shaped by the sound and journey of the music, but also the treatment itself, so by the end of the 60 minutes the massage and the music are merging into one. It’s the ultimate Spa experience to transport you deep into the Scottish Highlands, its rich history, ancient wisdom, breathtaking nature and unpredictable weather.
This treatment experience starts in wide, rolling heather meadows, beginning to surround you with the wild nature and wisdom of the land, as rain and thunder heard from the distance are moving closer. As the soundtrack and massage becomes more rhythmic and vigorous it’s as if you are hiking up a mountain, reaching the peak with a burst of fresh air, delivered in the form of cool stones applied gently to pressure points on the face, filling you with inspiration and imagination, as your body and mind open to the beautiful views across the Highland mountain range. You are guided on your way back down by traditional Gaelic Folk songs strongly intertwined with the culture, folklore and nature of the Highlands, equipping you with the energy to master your next endeavour. For More information on the treatment see here.
Julie Fowlis: ‘This is the first time I collaborated with Lush on a piece of music for a treatment like this. It requires a completely different approach to what we’d usually do and the music that we’d be commissioned to create. It’s always been really important to me to sing in Scottish Gaelic. These are the songs I feel closest to. They’re the ones that I heard in my formative years and the ones that feel pretty much part of me and the community that I belong to.”
“I feel even though some of these songs are pretty old, some that I sing might be several hundred years old, there is a strength and a truth to these songs. A lot of the songs we chose are deeply connected to the Highland landscape. The thing that’s special about this particular treatment and the arrangement of the music is the threading together of different strands, the sense of journey and the sense of music and the language and songs, all of them being intertwined, because to me you can’t separate the songs and the language and the stories and the landscape. They are all tied up together, they are all linked.”
Working closely with musicians to create bespoke soundtracks has been part of the Lush Spa since the very beginning when Lush’s co-founder Mark Constantine invited musician Simon Emmerson to develop the music for the very first treatment, Synaesthesia. Simon became an integral part in the Spa music development and music at Lush until his passing in 2023. Simon also began work on the Highlands Spa treatment with Lush, bringing in his passion for Celtic music, Scotland’s nature and Druidism, making this treatment the last project Simon worked on with Lush.
Song Notes and Translation
Nature is a recurring theme in Gaelic song and poetry and the close connection between the Gaels and their land is evident in their meticulous use of language to describe landscape and
seascape. In this song, composed early in the 1940s and set to music by Julie Fowlis and Oliver Cox, George Campbell Hay (1915-1984) explores his own deep-rooted connection with the land:
The leaves of Summer, the spate of Autumn, the snowdrifts
and the high Spring wind is she;
the sough of the woodland, the roaring of waterfalls,
the freshness of the snow and the heather ablaze is she;
mild pleasantness and melody, angry pride and courage,
growth and the pouring of showers is she;
breath of my body, nurture of my understanding, my hands,
my joints and my soul is she.
All year long, each season through, each day and each fall of dusk for me;
it is Scotland, Highland and Lowland, that is laughter and warmth and life for me.
Piano by Oliver Cox
Vocals by Julie Fowlis
Fiddle by Ewen Henderson
Produced by Simon Richmond
Mixed by Simon Massey
Mastered at Super Audio Mastering
About Julie Fowlis
Hailing from the Outer Hebrides and now based in the Highlands, Julie Fowlis is a multi-award winning singer whose music is deeply influenced by the Hebridean islands where she grew up and by the Highland landscapes where she now resides. A winner of ‘Folk Singer of the Year’ at the BBC Radio 2 Folk Awards and voted Musician of the Year 2023 at the Scots Trad Music Awards, Julie’s career spans several studio albums and numerous high profile collaborations, and will forever be recognised for singing the theme songs to ‘Brave’, Disney Pixar’s Oscar, Golden Globe and BAFTA winning animated film, set in the ancient highlands of Scotland. One of these songs was long listed for an Oscar in 2013.
About Oliver Cox
Oliver Cox is a composer and percussionist. He has performed all over the world as both concerto soloist and chamber musician, primarily with his percussion duo, O Duo, which he co-founded in 2000 at the Royal College of Music, London. O Duo had a huge impact on the UK music scene, performing three times at the BBC Proms, giving several recitals at the Wigmore Hall, starring as concerto soloists in the BBC Symphony Orchestra’s 80th Birthday celebration concert at the Barbican Hall in London.
About Lush Music
You would be hard pushed to pick up a Lush product that hadn’t been inspired in some part by music. You could say that music is one of their essential ingredients.
Interacting and working alongside musicians rather than just listening to them started with their Spa treatments. Music was to play an important role and become a central part of the therapy, creating the perfect soundtrack to massages, scrubs and soaks. All of Lush’s Spa treatments have bespoke soundtracks created by the ever expanding community of musicians who have become part of the Lush family.
Discover more about Music & Lush with this video.
About Lush
Since establishing in 1995, Lush has been driven by innovation and its ethics. Creators of pioneering beauty products, one of Lush’s most well-known creations is the bath bomb. Invented in 1989 by Lush Co-Founder Mo Constantine in her garden shed, bath bombs have become a global sensation – all hand pressed in Lush’s own manufacturing sites across the world, Lush sold over 40.5 million last year.
A beauty company with a campaigning heart, Lush is on a mission to create a product for every need and a cosmetic revolution to save the planet. The ultimate goal is to leave the world Lusher than we found it. Lush operates a strict policy against animal testing and leads the cosmetics industry in combating over-packaging by developing products that can be sold ‘naked’ to the consumer. Lush Digital champions ethical hardware, ethical data, ethical design and open-source technologies and we support and elevate communities who feel the same.
Today, Lush operates in 52 countries with over 850 shops, 38 websites shipping worldwide and a global network of native apps, broadcasting channels and digital communities in over 30 languages.
