The PAGAN MUSIC LIST is an attempt to create a comprehensive list of Pagan, Heathen, Esoteric, Animist, and related music that we listen to and love. We include embedded YouTube, Soundcloud, or Bandcamp links when possible for each artist.

Previous collections in this series have been archived here, and new collections of reviews will be posted monthly (supporters get early access to new collections—find out more here).

We also provide a constantly updated index of artists that we have reviewed by name and genre.

And if you are a Spotify listener, you can click on the embedded player to listen to the full updated playlist!

Collection 25

CESAIR, FINVARRA, FAEY

CESAIR

Medieval/ Folk

Website https://cesair.nl/
Recommended Album: Omphalos

Dutch band Cesair takes their name from the main character in a fictional retelling of Irish history, Cessair. Inspired by Celtic history but also fully in the modern, their songs are always solidly accessible. As such, it’s quite a surprise that they are much less known than a more popular Dutch band with less interesting music, Omnia.

Their latest music is especially great. Aux Pieds Nus (on bare feet) is a beautiful and deeply sad song about two lovers separated by war and then death.

Aux pieds nus, l'amour me porte
Notre voix a disparu La mémoire dort.
On ne danse plus vraiment
Mais la terre se souvient
De nos empreintes.

L'océan, notre gardien, notre sauveur
Me submerge avec sa grandeur
J'ai choisi cette vie pour l'éternité
Mais la guerre au loin t'a envoyé.

Barefoot my love carries me.
Our voice is gone and memory sleeps.
We don't really dance anymore
But the earth remembers our footprints.

The ocean, our guardian, our savior
Overwhelms me with its grandeur
I chose this life for eternity, but the war sent you far away.

And Cesair’s song Rúnatal is the Rúnatal Óðins, lines from the Hávamál in which Odin’s discovery of the runes occurs.

I know that I hung
on a wind-rocked tree,
nine whole nights, with a spear wounded,
and to Odin offered, myself to myself;
on that tree, of which no one knows
from what root it springs.

Finvarra

Folk/Traditional (Celtic)

Website: https://www.facebook.com/finvarramusic/

Recommended Album:Finvarra

Another Dutch band, this time named for one of the kings of the Daoine Sidhe (Finn Bheara). Finnvarra is often described as “Oriental Celtic” because of their use of near-eastern musical instruments alongside European instruments. There are also quite a few elements of 70’s folk rock, due to their admitted admiration for Jethro Tull.

Last month’s Pagan Music List featured a rendition of Dimna Juda. Finvarra’s version is maybe even a little better.

However, she’s probably much more known for the song she did with Kati Rán, “Vinda.”

FAEY

Folk/Neo-Folk (celtic)

Website: Unknown

Recommended Album: Golden Apples

Formed by a former lead singer of the band FAUN (Sandra Elflein), and not to be confused with several other bands with the same name, Faey is a german medieval/folk band with quite beautiful songs.

Sandra Elflein was the lead singer on only one of FAUN’s albums, the live acoustic album, “Buch Der Balladen.” That album was made during a transition from the former lead singer and record label to another of both, and it stands out as a really intriguing interlude.

Faey continues that interlude in another form, and their songs are all quite reminiscent of the spirit of “Buch Der Balladen.” Unfortunately, it’s not clear if it was a short project or if they continue to perform.

The lyrics for their song Golden Apples are derived from the poem “Travel” by Robert Louis Stevenson:

The acoustic session for their song, Sehnsucht (longing), particularly shows off Elflein’s talents (she is singing, playing flute, and also hurdy-gurdy):

The Pagan Music List 25