Many artists feel they channel, rather than consciously create, music. But who is the sender, asks veteran cult singer-songwriter Bill Fay, whose 2012 album Life Is People unexpectedly brought the septuagenarian retiree back into the studio after 41 years. All slow builds and gradual dawnings, this rich follow-up ponders the artistic process with a gentleness that belies great depth. A specific focus rests on the artist’s role as witness to wonderment - and its opposite. In Underneath the Sun, Fay casts an unblinking eye on how the stoic rhythm of the seasons is interrupted by the horror of “people… shooting at everyone/ Even little ones”.
