Description
Emily Portman returns with Dominion of Spells, her fourth studio album of original songs and her first solo release in a decade, reclaiming her voice after the shock release of two fake AI-generated albums issued in her name. The 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.
