Dominion of Spells

Description

T

he album is a powerful reaffirmation of human creativity:

“My music has always been about connection, bringing enduring old stories into

conversation with contemporary life,” Portman says. “This album is a collective,

entirely human-made effort, and it’s richer because of it.”

Renowned for her luminous songwriting and distinctive voice in contemporary folk,

Portman steps into bold new territory with an album that charts a heroine’s midlife

journey through dark woods in search of wonder.

Drawing on ballads and folktales, Dominion of Spells explores themes of burnout,

misogyny, motherhood, miscarriage and personal transformation, weaving lived

experience with mythic imagery and traditional folk narratives.

The title track, Dominion of Spells, reclaims a 17th- century phrase once used to

diagnose women as “disordered”, drawing on the myth of the wandering womb and

the long history of medical misogyny. Portman transforms these ideas into a vision of

a freer, fairer realm where women’s bodies are understood rather than feared.

The first single, Turn Again, is a tender meditation on parenthood, inspired by her

young son’s imaginative shapeshifting games and echoing the Tam Lin ballad, where

steadfast love breaks a powerful spell.

Elsewhere, the album explores women’s right to move safely after dark, gender-

swapped retellings of heroic quests, miscarriage, phone addiction and the restorative

power of creative practice.

Produced by Andy Bell and released on independent label Hudson Records, the album

features an outstanding ensemble of guest musicians including Martin Simpson, Lucy

Farrell, Mary Hampton, Louis Campbell, Lucy Revis, Ben Nicholls, Sam Sweeney, Helen

Bell, Neil McSweeney and Will Schrimshaw. Together they create a lush, understated

sound world centred on three-part harmonies and enriched by strings, guitars, double

bass and drums.

Dominion of Spells is accompanied by a hardback CD book featuring lyrics, artwork by

Gwen Burns and retellings of the stories behind the songs, alongside vinyl and digital

formats.

The album invites listeners into a mythic realm — a Dominion of Spells — guided by

fairy queens, selkies and owl goddesses, where struggle becomes transformation and

wonder is found through creativity and song.