Britain's folklore, legends, ghost stories and hidden histories

Crawley-based musician Phil Matthews, who records under the name The Village, has released an ambitious new album inspired by Britain's folklore, legends, ghost stories and hidden histories.

The Hollow Hills is a collection of songs exploring the myths, traditions and stories that have become woven into the fabric of Britain's landscapes and communities.

Drawing inspiration from folklore, supernatural tales and the enduring relationship between place and memory, the album takes listeners on a journey through a world of hollow hills, will-o'-the-wisps, mysterious creatures and forgotten histories.

Through atmospheric arrangements and narrative songwriting, the project seeks to bring these stories to life for a contemporary audience, Phil explains.

“I have played in bands all my life until about 12 or 13 years ago when the band I was in split up because the bass player died. The drummer was his mate and didn't want to carry on and so I was left on my own. I have recorded from home since the mid-1980s and I would usually get other people in to help. I thought I would just do it. I recorded a few songs and realised I had enough to put out a mini-album. But in my warped mind I thought no one would have heard of Phil Matthews so I needed a band name.”

Phil was a fan of the UK television series The Prisoner which had as its fictional setting

The Village: “So I thought that I would call myself The Village, and if people got the reference then great, and if they didn't, then it didn't matter.”

His first album came out in 2012. Now comes The Hollow Hills.

“If you go back two or three albums there was an album called Escape From The Witch Wood, and amongst the various things I wrote a song called Will-o'-the-Wisp based on English folk myth, that people wandering on the Moors might see this light that either leads them to safety or leads them to a hideous doom. I thought it would be great to write a bunch of songs that were all based on British folk mythology. It took me a while to get round to it but then I thought that it was now or never.

“The idea behind The Hollow Hills is that the tunnels under the hills act as the route between this world and the fairy people's world, the strange beings that inhabit British folk mythology.

“It is all me on the album. My one real thing for The Village is that I wanted to record something that I could play all of. It is pretty much a one-man band. There are a few drum machine tracks hidden in among some of the songs just to keep the rhythm fairly safe but I have only got a fairly small studio and it is just me really. If you're recording with a friend, it can take up to six months to do just one song because you are waiting for other people to do things. With this, it is just myself that I have to respond to.”

Which makes it difficult to play live: “I've only got two arms and two legs so I can't play half a dozen instruments at the same time but I could maybe work it out to just being me and guitar.”

The album is available on bandcamp. You can also find it on Spotify and Amazon.