Martin Lloyd Howard turns the English countryside into a musical landscape on “Surrey Bells,” an evocative instrumental composition built around the imagined sound of church bells travelling across a rural Surrey valley.
Soft, glistening guitar strumming forms the heart of the composition, with an echoey resonance giving the notes plenty of space to linger. Howard uses two guitars in a kind of musical conversation, with one sounding closer and more immediate while the other seems to drift in from somewhere across the valley. You can imagine bells answering one another on a bright winter morning.
The composition was recorded at home using Howard’s Tanglewood steel-string guitar, with the separate parts overdubbed to create the necessary depth. Both guitars are played in DADGAD tuning, producing a rich, resonant character that suits the open countryside imagery beautifully. There is a gentle fluidity to the playing, too, with the performance feeling organic.
That approach reflects Howard’s broader musical language. His influences stretch from Elizabethan lutenist John Dowland and classical guitarist Julian Bream to folk guitarists Davey Graham and Martin Simpson, alongside the acoustic work of rock figures such as Jimmy Page and Ritchie Blackmore.
What makes the piece particularly effective is the relationship between the two guitars. Their interplay creates the illusion of physical space. “Surrey Bells” ultimately feels like a walk through the countryside translated into strings, as a meditative, resonant composition where every ringing note seems to travel a little farther.
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Review by: Naomi Joan