Susannah Stark‘s Minor Gestures is a breathtaking meditation on language, landscape, and collective memory. Sung in both Gàidhlig and English, the album transforms ancient folk idioms into living sound sculptures, balancing spirituality with experimental poise. It feels like an act of translation between worlds: the mystical and the modern, the seen and the felt.

Stark’s hypnotic vocals float atop an ensemble featuring Caroline Hussey’s expansive accordion drones, Phil Cardwell’s soft-blown trumpet, and Laurie Pitt’s intuitive percussion.

The album opens with ‘Caochan’, where Stark converses directly with flowing water, setting the tone for an omnidirectional dialogue with nature, mythology, and history. It’s intimate yet expansive, a song that listens as much as it speaks.

Tracks like ‘Ceistean gun freagairtean’ pose unanswerable questions while weaving together existential dread and Pictish burial imagery. Later, ‘Mu choinneamh, ri taobh’ (feat. Cinder) deepens that communion, layering ethereal harmonies and flute-like synth textures into a hymn of quiet resilience and connection.

Recorded around Glasgow’s Govan stones, the river Clyde and underground streamlets, Minor Gestures feels like music for ancient rituals—compositions born from visual cues and bodily fundamentals: breath, drone, whisper.

Across its eight tracks, the album moves slowly but purposefully, encouraging contemplation rather than resolution. Stark’s voice carries both fragility and conviction, guiding listeners through sonic terrain that feels ritualistic and tender. The result is an album that hums with the timeless pulse of nature and care.