A SUITE OF NEW AIRS & MELODIES INSPIRED BY THE HILLS & BRAES OF THE RIVER SPEY & ITS TRIBUTARIES

The Hill is not just about one hill - it refers to all the hills and mountain landscape that feed into the River Spey in my native Strathspey & Badenoch.

For over a decade I have been producing an album series about my homeland of Badenoch & Strathspey in the Scottish Highlands: The River (2016), The Railway (2018) and The Woods (2020). This is No.4, The Hill (2026). It has taken me longer to produce than all the others put together. It explores the hills and glens of my homeland, whose burns and tributaries feed into the river Spey. Badenoch & Strathspey, ‘The Strath’, is a landlocked region roughly 60 miles long and 25 wide, a bit smaller than Skye and a bit bigger than Mull. I see it as being more like an island, surrounded by mountain landscape instead of sea - ‘an island on a Highland’. Here I continually discover fascinating new places, wildlife, people and communities. On the map you might agree it has the shape of a great salmon, swimming out to sea. It gives me a profound sense of dùthchas (connection to and feeling of responsibility toward my place of upbringing & kin). I belong to it. It is my goal to share with the world its dualchas - its unique... more
credits
released September 4, 2026

Produced by Hamish Napier & Andrea Gobbi between 2020-26.

Recorded & mixed by Andrea Gobbi, GloWorm Recordings, Glasgow.

Hardanger fiddle recorded by Juhani Silvola, Oslo, Norway. Steve Byrnes’ guitar recorded by Josh Clark, Get Real Audio, Bath.

Mastered by Andrea Gobbi at Carrier Waves Mastering, Glasgow 2026

Artwork, map & design by Somhairle MacDonald.

Booklet layout by S MacDonald & H Napier.

Photos by David Russell, Highland Wildscapes. | Printed by Birnam CD.

EXPEDITION MEMBERS & KIT LIST

Hamish Napier whistles, wooden flutes, piano, Wurly, harmonium, vocals & pod shakers
Iain MacFarlane fiddle (6,7,8,9,10,14,16,19)
Sarah-Jane Summers Hardanger fiddle (3,12,18)
Duncan Chisholm fiddle (9,11,12,17)
The Hill String Quartet (1,2,4,5,11,13,14,16,18,20)
Seonaid Aitken violin in string quartet
Megan Henderson violin in string quartet
Patsy Reid viola in string quartet, and solo fiddle and viola (1,13)
Su-a Lee cello in string quartet, and solo cello (2,12)
Ross Ainslie various bagpipes: Smalls (7,9), Borders (7,10) & Highlands (16,17,19)
John Mulhearn Highland bagpipes for ceòl mòr (20)
Ewan Robertson guitar (all tracks except 9)
Steve Byrnes guitar (9)
James Lindsay double bass & bass guitar
Fraser Stone drums & hand percussion (including Eric Pirie’s rock-climbing gear)
Calum MacCrimmon tromb (jaws harp) (19)
Ellen MacDonald lead vocals (20)
Marie-Louise Napier vocables (20)
The Hill Chorus Ewen Henderson, Josie Duncan & members of Còisir Cuèir (Queer Choir): Camshron, Bekah, Robbie & Michelle. Marie Louise Napier, Hamish Napier, Darren MacLean, Calum MacCrimmon, Ellen MacDonald, Claire Francis MacNeill, Ceitlin L.R. Smith and Mischa MacPherson.

Compositions:
All tracks composed by H Napier PRS/MCPS, except lyrics by Ewen Henderson (20); tune cowrites with: Sarah-Jane Summers (3b), Duncan Chisholm (9), Iain MacFarlane (10a), Iain MacFarlane & Ross Ainslie (16a) & Calum MacCrimmon (track 20); and the Trad tune Reel of Tulloch (7d).

Arrangers:
All tracks arranged by H Napier except string arrangements by Patsy Reid (13) and Seonaid Aitken (1,2,5,11,14,16,18,20) - and H Napier (4); collaborative arrangements with Calum MacCrimmon (20), James Lindsay (1,3,10,13) & Ewan Robertson (6,14) and creative contributions by A Gobbi (all).

Field Recordings:
by H Napier: wind on End Cromdale Sgòr Gaoithe (1), River Spey (2), Burn, dunnocks & robin birdsong (12). Field recordings made by other people: Wells of Dee gurgling (2) by Helen Needham; River Dee (2) by Jane Shears; golden plover (4) by John Neville; snow bunting (8) & stonechat (16) by Peter Stronach; and snow buntings (8) Ruari MacDonald (Cairngorm Mountain Ranger Service).