Merry Hell - Rising of the Bold (2025)

In true folk-rock style, the origins of Rising Of The Bold can be traced to a long weekend in a country house in Shropshire—where the 8 Merry Hell members converged, allowing our five writers to share their latest offerings. These were worked into a band format, inspired by open fires and free-flowing ideas; fine food, foaming ales, Welsh whisky and good company.

The results are fabulous: classic folk-rock with an upbeat, uplifting feel—songs with serious subjects and a sense of humour. We open with an invitation to dance if you’re feeling down. There’s a dark, minor-key jig, cascading fiddle, bright pop joyfulness and voices joined together in harmony—plus an instrumental composed by Simon Swarbrick when he was left alone for several hours with only his violin and a lizard for company. ‘Peace Can Be Louder Than War’ sees the band united with a ‘Thousand Voice Choir’: following a social media appeal, individuals, groups of friends and choirs submitted their own recordings. Along with contributions from audiences at a number of gigs, these were mixed with our own singers to create a truly worldwide song of positive desire, featuring singing from four continents and twenty-six countries. Issued as an album taster on New Year’s Day, 2025, it reached the heady heights of the American Folk Radio Airplay Charts Top 30.