The Unfolding – Hannah Peel & Paraorchestra

As revealed on my podcast back in September 2021, Hannah Peel & Paraorchestra (with Charles Hazlewood) have released a major new work called The Unfolding.
Find out more and order the album here.

Reviews have understandably been outstanding with BBC 6Music New Music Fix calling it ‘a remarkable record… beautiful, complex & ambitious’.
‘Fresh & original’ – MOJO
‘Inspired’ – UNCUT
‘A remarkable piece of work’ – Belfast Telegraph
‘Head & heart music’ – Music OMH

About Hannah Peel…

As a listener to this podcast and a fan of Paul Weller, you will undoubtedly know Hannah Peel from her arrangements on True Meanings and the Royal Festival Hall shows that led to the Other Aspects live album and DVD / Sky programme.
Hannah is an Emmy-nominated, RTS and Music Producers Guild winning composer, with a flow of solo albums and collaborative releases. She joins the dots between science, nature and the creative arts, through her explorative approach to electronic, classical and traditional music.
From her own solo albums to composing soundtracks like Game of Thrones: The last Watch, or to orchestrating and conducting for artists like Paul Weller, Declan O’Rourke and Dot Allison, her work is ambitious, forward-looking, always adapting and re-inventing new genres and hybrid musical forms
Hannah is a regular weekly broadcaster for BBC Radio 3’s Night Tracks – an amazing radio show that you really should check out.

About Paraorchestra…

Paraorchestra create large scale and dynamic music experiences, blending artforms and technology to create innovative new ways of experiencing orchestral music. Their ensembles feature professional disabled and non-disabled musicians, playing a mix of analogue, digital, and assistive instruments.
Paraorchestra are not only radically changing who connects with orchestral music, but, shifting the perception of disability by removing the outdated barriers that too often prevent a showcase of excellence in disabled player.

Hear Hannah Peel sharing more on the new album…

Speaking to The Paul Weller Fan Podcast in September 2021, Hannah told us how it all came about…

“I got Paul quite a lot of different quotes for different orchestras when we were looking to record On Sunset. And we all came to the conclusion that Paraorchestra are incredible. They bring in session players. They’re amazing to work with and so we got them on board and we did it again for Fat Pop as well.

Paraorchestra commissioned me to write them a piece three years ago, over three and, a half years ago. And I was so busy with Paul and Game of Thrones and things, I just had to keep putting it back. Until lockdown. And then once Fir Wave had kind of been done, I was just writing away, and I managed to get this commission done for them and it ended up kind of just being over an hour of music.

We were like, oh, we’ll do it at show in October 2020, and then it was like, no, we’re not going to be doing that. And then it was kind of like, well, why don’t we do one for this spring in 2021?
And then I was like, look, you’ve never made a record before. Why don’t we make this as an album?
So we went into that process of finding somewhere to do it, how we fund that because they’re such a unique orchestra. There are so many different elements to each player that is in that orchestra and safety as well, they’re quite vulnerable as well with health.

Eventually we made this recording. Actually the week that Fir Wave came out, I was in the studio the whole week recording The Unfolding. It’ll come out as an album in 2022. I can’t wait. It’ll be really exciting to work with them…”

‘The Unfolding’ is the title track of the album. Video by Stefan Goodchild, Triple Geek.
Original The Unfolding artwork by Barnbrook.

The Unfolding – More Info

There are pieces of music that seek to tell us deeper stories. Others harness the talents of the players at their disposal in adventurous ways. Then there are the rare, generous works that make us think back to our roots as human beings and to our shared beginnings in the universe, that lift us in their melodies, rhythms and textures, that carry us with them.
The Unfolding is all of these things. An extraordinary eight-part collaboration between composer Hannah Peel (Mercury Prize and Emmy nominee) and Paraorchestra, it was made over three years in precious morsels of time around a global pandemic. These circumstances – unexpected when the collaboration began – add weight to its explorations in sound about who we are, where we came from, and who we could all be. The Unfolding also explores Paraorchestra’s progressive idea of what an orchestra should be, mixing analogue, digital and assistive instruments with a unique ensemble of disabled and non-disabled musicians to make magic happen, and accessible to all.

The vinyl edition of the album is a 2LP set, in a gatefold sleeve, with printed inner sleeves.
Available on either black or orange vinyl.
The LP comes with an additional track ‘The Unfolding Credits (Instrumental)’.

Paraorchestra & Hannah Peel with Paul Weller

I have created a little playlist of PW songs that feature Paraorchestra & arrangements from Hannah…

On Sunset
Paraorchestra perform on the following songs, with string arrangements by Hannah Peel…

Track 4 – Village – Paraorchestra
Track 6 – On Sunset – Paraorchestra
Track 9 – Earth Beat – Paraorchestra
Track 10 – Rockets – Paraorchestra (additional string arrangement by Andy Crofts)

Fat Pop (Vol 1)
Paraorchestra perform on the following songs with string arrangements by Hannah Peel.

Track 5 – Glad Times – Arrangement by Hannah Peel & White Label, Strings by Paraorchestra
Track 8 – That Pleasure – Strings by Paraorchestra
Track 12 – Still Glides The Stream – Arrangement by Hannah Peel & Steve Cradock, Strings by Paraorchestra