BRIGHTLY SHONE THE MOON is the 13th solo album from the UK Composer/Performer and Improviser Laura Cannell. Growing up in the marshes in rural Norfolk there is a natural leaning towards the stark landscape and nostalgia of winter’s past. In the village she grew up in carols were sung in the methodist chapel, the church, the village hall and outside people’s doors. Later on, around the piano with her sister playing the right hand and Laura on the left, the tunes were always there, but maybe not the words. This album takes some essence from the past but is firmly rooted in the present. These songs are still embedded in the season and the rural countryside but they have become their own tradition, they belong to each of us if we want them.

Christmas melodies disappear into densely packed woodland copses where half remembered carols are played on the fiddle and the merry organ, but none are what they seem. Brightly Shone the Moon is alternative Christmas music for those who love and mourn in a season where darkness is everywhere. A time when the winter sun is shy, but the moon lights our nights and encourages our strange songs, traditions and hopes for the unfurling of a new and better year.

The 9 tracks on Brightly Shone the Moon were recorded in Laura’s home studio, with duo partner André Bosman guesting on tracks 2, 7 and 8 on synths, and sampling Laura’s violin.

“The sound of ancient carols drift through a deep green winter forest. Branches are heavy with snow. Just out of sight is the sound of a strange rural village band processing over the crunchy pebbles of the churchyard and into the medieval church.

Violins and pipe organs glitch and echo, as half remembered melodies sweep towards you on a bluster of icy wind. Traces of familiar festive songs flicker around you, almost cosy but they are distant as you stand, boots in deep snow, alone.

The moon shines brightly as twinkling ice crystals land silently, softly, on your woollen sleeve. It is that time again, where joy and heartache try to exist together. Traditions come in and out of focus as the winter leaves its mark.”
Laura Cannell October 2025