Torlan is Welsh for ‘from the riverbank’. Celebrating water magic - nymphs, nixies, nereids, mermaids, island witches - we’ve gathered songs of seas, lakes and rivers from many of our albums. Between each song is a recording of water. Listen for waterbirds, discover wetlands, dream of voyages beyond the estuary, rest by a stream, trace a forest lane in the rain …
 
The opening track, ‘Birrarung’, is Wurundjeri for ‘river of mists and shadows’, and describes the Yarra Yarra River.
 
Cover art is an oil painting, ‘Water Bird’, by Louisa’s mother, Belinda John, an award-winning artist in Australia. Symbolising innocence and hope, the heron unites habitat with heritage. 
 
The photographic lyric booklet, in an eco-friendly pocket within panels of recycled material, is laced with quotations of poetry from various cultures and centuries.
 
Genre: ethereal, classical-ambient-folk, aquatic dream pop, faerie, poetic, elemental.
 
Instrumentation: an eclectic mix of instruments, such as harp, mandolin, glissando, cello, violin, contrabass, flute, bansouri, chameleau, ocarina, wurlitzer, clarinet, sansula, chiming fruit and a guitar strummed with a knotted fishnet, interspersed with native Australian birdsong.
 
The compilation includes dreamy songs from Louisa’s long history (over 15 years) with fairy-world label Prikosnovenie (France) as well as Forest of the Fae (America), Hyperium (Germany) and her debut Argo (Australia).
 
We acknowledge the Traditional Owners and Elders 
of habitations in which this music originated.
The Yarra Yarra (Yarra River) was both a border and meeting place for tribes.

Paradoxically, our lyrics embrace lore 
that might seem geographically or temporally remote,
yet abides alongside the Dreaming.
 
Fey realms are not escapism; rather, they lead us deeper into the world. 
They seek to re-enchant us, so that we may fall in love with life, cherish its beauty, 
and reawaken our sense of wonder.
 
Louisa John-Krol