Surely there’s a book to be written about the long relationship between progressive music and the paranormal? And when it’s finally penned, Fenella’s latest album deserves a highly honourable mention. The trio, formed by alt-folk-turned-warped-pop songwriter Jane Weaver and her longtime musical lieutenants Pete Philipson and Raz Ullah, have followed 2019’s debut Fehérlófia (itself a bewitching affair, soundtracking a Hungarian fantasy animation from 1981) with The Metallic Index, inspired by the true story of a London woman who apparently had mysterious psychic powers.
It’s a captivating, immersive listen that sounds like it could have been made pretty much at any point in the last 50 years – possibly because the group are not only influenced by vintage ambient electronica, but also had access to a veritable treasure trove of analogue instruments through which to channel the album.
The story it’s inspired by is that of Stella
