Snowdrops is a collaboration between Winterfalle and former Children's Laureate Chris Riddell. The song takes Chris' heartbreaking poem on the human impact of the war in Ukraine and sets it to music so that the words might travel.

All aspects of the release are driving donations to the David Notts Foundation, which is training surgeons in Ukraine.

Snowdrops

Miles Off Course, the first single from the new Winterfalle album 'Out Of The Sea', is OUT NOW. 🧭

The song is about the German Occupation of Jersey, a true story about the wreck of the SS Schokland, a troop carrier that sank off the North coast in 1943 as if it’s being watched by a local child up on the headland.

LYRICS

Bodies stacked like timbers,
Foundered on the rocks,
Some hundred lives lost,
 
They weren’t local sailors,
Far away from home,
Lost beneath the foam,
 
They didn’t know these waters,
January cold,
Flood the third hold,
 
We watched those foreign soldiers,
Taken by the tide,
A fraction made it out alive,

I know it’s hard, but we must be kept apart,
Cut off by the tide, the rocks, the reef, the beach, the mines,
 
The sharpest shards, breached the hull, the lungs, the heart,
From the lighthouse on the reach, to the bottom of the sea,

Miles off course.

Oh I saw those timbers,
Piled up on the pier,
Somewhere over there,

Seagulls cried and lingered,
More washed up on the sand,
I squeezed my father’s hand,
 
He said they had it coming,
Some people never learn,
They got what they deserved,

I dreamed of wild adventures,
Just William, Boy’s Own,
Not these bloated bags of bones,

I know it’s hard, but we must be kept apart,
Cut off by the tide, the rocks, the reef, the beach, the mines,
 
The sharpest shards, breached the hull, the lungs, the heart,
From the lighthouse on the reach, to the bottom of the sea,

Miles off course. 
Miles off course.
 
You can hear them singing Lili Marleen across the sea,
While the wireless plays out that exact same song to you and me.

And if I was honest with myself, I’d say it was hard to read,
From the shoreline which fields they had fought on, it wasn’t clear to see.

And if you go wading out off Portelet and dive down sixty feet,
You will find an impermanent reminder decaying in the deep.
 
Miles off course.
Miles off course.

We recorded the song with Jason Wilson (Bellowhead, Fisherman's Friends, Reuben, Fightstar), taking influence from the darker sonic palette of 2000’s emo and the 2010's folk revival, turned into something new to tell this Island story.

Miles Off Course

LYRICS

Those hungry twenty-somethings,
Can't meet eyes on the tube,
They're both too busy thinking ‘bout,
The things they have to lose,

She's running late for nothing,
While she's sitting on her hands,
And he's thinking ‘bout the weekend when,
He found it hard to stand,

They feel it the morning,
Hollow-eyed at half past nine,
Sank into their leather chairs,
Pretending they’re just fine,

They’re alright.

The office party burst its banks,
And flood across the road,
The sound of sniffing managers,
Who need to blow their nose,

The bilge blows out waste water,
While we’re calling for more pints,
Those freezing heightened tempers,
Spell split lips, bare knuckle fights,

And we’ll feel it the morning,
Hollow-eyed at half past nine,
Sank into our leather chairs,
Pretending we’re just fine,

We’re alright.

Our shattered dreams, like baby teeth,
Lay scattered on the floor,
They crunch beneath brogue-booted feet,
In air-conditioned halls,
The pay-purse strings are tightening,
We feel the squeeze some more,
What could have been through other means,
Was shut outside the door.

I can't remember anything,
But didn't we have fun?
Tonight we're going out again,
Forgetting what we've done,

What have we done?
What have we done?

I feel it in the morning,
Hollow-eyed at half-past nine,
Sank into my leather chair,
Pretending I’m just fine,

I’m alright.



Erm… the last tape seems to have become a bit staccato, leaving out bits and pieces of sound. I hope it’s not going to be perpetuated on this tape, where the other one came to an end.

Shattered Dreams

LYRICS

You feel it the morning,
Hollow-eyed at half past nine,
Sank into your leather chair,
Pretending you’re just fine,

You’re alright.

Interlude At Half Past Nine

LYRICS

Jack’s a sailor,
Works the lifeboat team, St. Catherine's shore,
Comes here every weeknight,
When his shift comes ashore.

Yan catches sea bass,
He does it from six until nine,
Then joins Jack down at Chambers,
Like clockwork on time.

And they sing all the old songs,
And try not to work nights,
And they drink in the same bars,
And they’ll do it for the rest of their lives,
I knew a fisherman's friend and these guys are alright.
 
Jack lost his father,
He fell out the lifeboat,
The firemen they found him,
With the brine in his throat.

Yan’s dad catches sea bass,
It's dyed in the wool,
Hasn't found Yan's stash yet,
Yan hopes he never will!

And they sing all the old songs,
And try not to work nights,
And they drink in the same bars,
And they'll do it for the rest of their lives,
I knew a fisherman's friend and these guys are alright.

They’re alright.

And they sing all the old songs,
And try not to work nights,
And they drink in the same bars,
And they'll do it for the rest of their lives,
I knew a fisherman's friend and these guys are alright.

Fisherman's Friend

LYRICS

Knock the oysters off the rocks,
Oh these ones must have wandered off,
Getting themselves lost,
When I get home I’m gonna wash this salt right off.

That’s a keeper that your brother has right there,
I like the way she eats the rations and sadly seems to stare,
From out beneath her blanket and out towards the pier, it’s clear,
She’d rather be anywhere but here.

Oh, she’d rather be anywhere but here.

Wash away, wash away, spring tide,
Wash away, wash away, spring tide,
The water’s cold and it’s starting to rise,
So wash away, wash away –

My old man’ll tell you something ‘bout the foreshore law round here,
He’ll say the vraic belongs to he who holds the rights to be Seigneur,
While he’s wading through the water up to his knees, he doesn’t care,
When he gets home, he’ll fall fast asleep in his chair.

Wash away, wash away, spring tide,
Wash away, wash away, spring tide,
The water’s cold and it’s starting to rise,
So wash away, wash away –

Pack the oysters in the box,
We best be moving quickly as the tide is coming up,
The water rolls in faster than the speed of a racing horse,
You can see it breach the sandbar to the north,
You can see it breach the sandbar to the north.

Wash away, wash away, spring tide,
Wash away, wash away, spring tide,
The water’s cold and it’s starting to rise,
So wash away, wash away spring tide,

So wash away, wash away. Wash away, wash away. Wash away, wash away.
Wash away, wash away.

Spring Tide

LYRICS

I cut my thumb,
When we were done,
Played ’til I was numb,
How oh-so-like me,

We spoke too soon,
You did not move,
So every girl I knew,
I barred from entry,

I had to learn,
And how it burned,
But you remained firmly,
Inside my rib cage,

Now I have grown,
And you were thrown,
But you have to know,

That I can’t call you, no more,
I can’t call you anymore.

And though it hurts to say and is harder still to do,
It’s about time that I fell out of touch with you.

I made things worse:
Let you rehearse,
What the band would play,
One day in summer,

Now I stand firm,
You read the terms,
Yeah that’s a pretty perm,

But I can’t call you, no more,
I can’t call you anymore.

And though it hurts to say and is harder still to do,
It’s about time that I fell out of touch with you,

With you,

It’s about time that I fell out of touch with you.

Me and all my unfinished business,
You and all your half-made plans,
Me and my dreams of a better future,
Your empty castle in the sand,

I’m ringing out, you’re far too loud,
Well that was then and this is now,
Our wires were crossed, now the lines are down,
And though it hurts to say, and is harder still to do,

It’s about time that I fell out of touch with you.

Out Of Touch

LYRICS

Do you remember sunshine?
You never know, you never get away,
Stuck in Sixth Form sundown,
Wishing your life had always stayed the same,
And now it's getting dark out,
And all your mates are going on their way,
You can't see the surf now,
But you hear it all the same,

It always ends the same.

Sitting on that beach towel,
Lift the lid, light the barbie flame,
And by the slip you see them,
Hanging out, like nothing ever changed,
It won't be long before your kids are talking the same way, 
'bout back when they were young,

It always ends the same,
It always ends the same.

Like an impossible moon in a star-filled sky,
When we never used to stop, or think, or ask ourselves why,
If you only wish that things had always stayed the same,
It's like a razor blade taped to the bars of a climbing frame,
So cut that out and watch it die;
Memories are only meant to flash before your eyes,
It's a treasured time, through a rose-red screen,
I forgot exactly what it's supposed to mean to me,

I forgot exactly what it's supposed to even say,

And maybe that's ok,

Cos it always ends the same.

Ends The Same

Out of the Sea is a collection of orchestral alt-folk stories exploring my sea-locked childhood home of Jersey, local patterns of life, and fraying connections to place and past. 🏝️ 🕰️

LYRICS

My material for this piece was gained in the course of assembling proofs. I fear, therefore, that I shall fail the test of historical rigour in the eyes of my audience, and you should not be deceived therefore into believing that the skills of the translator reflect my own. In the circumstances, I hope you will forgive me. My matter is limited in geographical scope, moreover my subject is

the foreshore, 
the islands, 
the Jerseyman. 

The Jerseyman tells us of a divided land. Notions of equality, division, the assimilation into society, questions of privilege, the maritime, the huge tidal beaches of continental Normandy, and the Channel Islanders – the intimate connection which is central to this piece.

In the sea, on the foreshore, in the sand or clinging to the rocks. ‘Vraic’, the seaweed which had drifted ashore, or was harvested from the rocks. ‘Vareck’ for wreckage, or other things drifting to shore. ‘Estrandes’ for things stranded on the shore itself. Specifically the coast, generally place names, and activities such as fishing are relevant here.

The foreshore,
the heart,
the words crystallised.

The Jerseyman 
rising out
of the sea.

Out Of The Sea

Sam and Todd in session with DJ Ryan Morrison for BBC Introducing in Jersey.

I Know - BBC live session (14/01/17)

Winterfalle is the alt-folk brainchild of South London songwriter Sam Falle. Founded in the Island of Jersey, Sam's songs shares contemporary folk tales about local life, history and culture. Initially a solo project, the project has grown into an ensemble featuring Sam Falle on vocals, acoustic guitar, and keys, Todd MacDonald on electric guitar and vocals, Dom Main on cello and vocals, Jack Chown on drums, and James Kerr on bass.

Winterfalle

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