“The others kept putting it further back on the list. Finally I said, ‘No, we’ve got to do it now’”: After five albums, this unique band accepted it was time to face the climate crisis head on. They don’t regret it

The Emerald Dawn have placed the climate emergency at the centre of their sixth album The Land, The Sea, The Air. Ally Carter and Tree Stewart tell Prog how the first volume of this ambitious two-album set came together and how a new-found love of fusion has bolstered their sound.

Even within a genre of music as diverse as prog, The Emerald Dawn are unique. Formed in 2010 by Ally Carter and Tree Stewart, the band have gradually built an increasingly devoted as they release their sixth album. Carter and Stewart – who remain at the heart of the group – are recently back from an appearance at the prestigious A New Day festival. But, by contrast, they’ve just played live to an audience of zero.

Carter explains: “When we make an album we play the whole thing live in the studio with cameras set up, then Tree has the terrible job of putting all the footage together. We performed one of the new tracks to make sure all the levels were right and the cameras were picking everything up, then next week we’ll do the actual recording.”

The Land, The Sea, The Air is to be released in two parts, with the second due in the spring, and a double-vinyl version combining both releases to follow. While there’s always been an environmental flavour to The Emerald Dawn’s music – Carter served on the board of Friends Of The Earth Scotland for some years – this is the first time they’ve tackled the subject head on.

“I’ve wanted to do this album for quite a while,” Carter says. “The rest of the band kept putting it further back on the list, until finally I said, ‘No. We’ve got to do it now.’”

Stewart says there’s been a shift in thinking among the group. “We felt that now is the time because of what’s been going on in the last year with the rolling back of environmental legislation, especially in America, and with all the wildfires all over the world. It’s more urgent.”

Carter recalls: “Tree was creating the videos for playing Under Changing Skies live, and all over the news California was burning. We were able to use that footage, which is very powerful; it gets the message across amazingly well.”

The first volume contains four tracks, with the emphasis largely on instrumental textures, and it features some stylistic tweaks they haven’t attempted before. Opener Dancing With The Spirit is full-on fusion that benefits from the mobility and compositional skills of the rhythm section, bassist Dave Greenaway and jazz-leaning drummer Tom Jackson.

Stylistically it was less of a natural fit for Stewart at first. “People said they wanted to attempt some slightly different styles, and wee managed to fit those in. The guys love fusion – and now I do, too, because they forced it on me! It was really exciting to play that sort of stuff together finally.”

Her excellent adaption to the challenge is evidenced by her excellent synth solo, which Carter likens to Mike Ratledge of Soft Machine. Stewart is relieved it turned out well: “I’m chuffed with that, actually. It’s not a style I normally solo in; it’s a really new thing for me.”

The near 17-minute Under Changing Skies includes lyrics that urge the listener not to look away from the climate emergency. Stewart wrote the powerful riff in reaction to being ribbed about her compositional style. “Our rhythm section thinks that every riff I write feels like a keyboard player composed it. So I thought, ‘Right, you blighters, I’m going to write something hard-edged that you’re actually going to like!’ And they do, which is great. I’m relieved that I finally came up with something the guys are happy with.”

She’s also introduced a new instrument, the HandSonic digital percussion device, that allows her to add dulcimer and congas. She feels it works well live with both visual and musical qualities. “When that dulcimer section ends, there’s a spontaneous round of applause,” Carter says. “It’s like what happens at a jazz gig, where after a little solo you get a burst of appreciation.”

While Under Changing Skies will feel familiar to Emerald Dawn concert goers, that won’t be so true of the bold 14-minute While Oceans Die, which attempts to reproduce the feeling of being at sea in all its variations – and features some jazzy freeform sax from Carter. “My main influences are Elton Dean from Soft Machine’s Third, Fourth and Fifth albums and a Norwegian saxophonist, Jan Garbarek, who’s absolutely stunning,” he says. “But I don’t set out to be jazzy specifically.”

The most intriguing section is An Evening Storm, which moves away from rock music to become thrillingly orchestral. It sounds like a challenge to play live, with both Carter and Stewart on keyboards. Heaping specific praise on Tom Jackson’s percussive skills, Carter says: “All four of us love orchestral music; it’s not surprising that it’s come out. We often have orchestral sections in our music, but not in quite such an extended form.

“The first time we rehearsed it, it was tricky to play, but after a few run- throughs it gets into your body and becomes really enjoyable. I thought Tom would put a normal rock pattern under it – I love that it sounds like he’s playing timpani.”

The album ends with And We’re Left Wondering Why..., an extended but conventional song that’s somewhat unusual for The Emerald Dawn. Its genesis was in a piece Carter played in the past. “Once upon a time I used to go around environmental gatherings with an acoustic guitar, and that’s one of the songs I used to sing, although Tree sings it here.”

While the lyrics throughout the album are somewhat downbeat, the band promise an element of hope will creep into the second part, which will mainly discuss how humans have impacted rainforests and rivers. It’s progressing nicely as well.

“There’s one track that’s not fully composed, and the rest we could record tomorrow if we wanted,” says Carter.

Stewart adds: “There’s a side-long composition called Song Of The Rainforest and a piece we’re still composing called Rivers Of Tears. The final track is called Paradise, which brings things together and leaves a bit of hope about how we might all be able to live a more ecological lifestyle.”