On his latest album, Jim Ghedi has created something huge. Intense, brooding, bold, at times apocalyptic, and remarkably vast. Wastelandis a record that is unafraid to plunge into the darkness of the modern world and embrace the weirder, edgier and more unnerving moments that come from doing so. It is an album that captures all the enormity of life from the micro to the macro, zooming in on the personal as well reflecting on broader societal issues. “Wastelandis about the idea of a place once known or familiar that is now broken down and unrecognisable,” says Ghedi. “It’s about exploring the process of watching someone’s surroundings and environment collapse.” And within that you have a lot going on. “It also explores death, personal loss, grief, mental health and how the natural world provides solace and meaning for that loss and how these worlds blur into one another.”

However, this is not just an album about what happens when things erode, it is also a profoundly bold sonic statement that is some of the most rich, far-reaching and ambitious work that Ghedi has created to date. The opening ‘Old Stones’ sets the tone for the album, as it unfurls via thick, engulfing, tense atmospheres, further guided by beautifully deft instrumentation and Ghedi’s graceful vocal, before it erupts into something explosive as drums crash, strings scream and Ghedi’s voice yells out from the middle of a swirling storm like a man lost at sea. It’s a perfect encapsulation of a record that however dark and dramatic it can be at times is also one that is punctuated with constant beauty, tenderness and powerful sentiment. “The record is definitely raw and vulnerable with a lot of emotion driven into it,” says Ghedi.

Ghedi has always been an artist that in many ways perfectly encompasses folk music in its purest form but he is also someone that frequently pushes the boundaries of that label and no more so is that apparent than on this record. As like previous albums, such as 2018’s A Hymn for Ancient Land and 2021’s In the Furrows of Common Place, Ghedi uses traditional folk songs as a means to explore contemporary issues via modern and experimentally-leaning music. The mournful and melancholic ‘What Will Become of England’ is based on a recording of English singer Harry Cox that Ghedi found in Alan Lomax Archive; ‘Newtondale and Blue John’ are two hornpipe tunes written by Dave Shepherd, a fiddle player from Sheffield, and was found on the compilation LPEnglish Fiddle Players; and elsewhere there’s versions of songs from singers from Hull and Liverpool, while ‘Trafford Road Ballad’ is a song written by Ewan MacColl about a worker from Salford who refuses to go to war.

“With the traditional material on this album I wanted to find songs with content that resonated with me,” says Ghedi. “But also that were based roughly around the north of England.” This is a central underlying theme to the album for Ghedi. The feelings of loss, erosion, and degradation are often most pronounced in working class communities and this was something he wanted to weave in. “There is a strong working class narrative and representation both within the traditional and original songwriting,” he says. “It was important to voice and choose material that represented or expressed issues that correlated with things going on around me.”

However, as remarkable as some of the traditional material is, some of the most arresting work on the album is Ghedi’s entirely original compositions. ‘Wasteland’ is a stunning piece of work that while rooted in an environment being corrupted and broken – “there’s violence on these hills” Ghedi sorrowfully sings, before claiming this is no longer somewhere that can be called home – it is also a stirringly beautiful composition that soars and glides as it opens up, as sweeping strings swoop and in and out of Ghedi’s twangy electric guitar. The decision to incorporate more fuller sounds, such as electric guitar and huge drums, results in a notable shift and evolution in tone for Ghedi. “The lyrical content needed something more band-driven and loud to deliver them,” he explains. “Incorporating the electric guitar in my songwriting was also a big part of opening the sound up, using drop tunings pushed me to use my voice in a wider range, which forced me to use falsetto a lot which I haven’t previously done before. That then opened the sound up and gave me creative ideas for bigger arrangements and to sonically really push things.”

Recorded over 2 years at Tesla Studios in Sheffield, with David Glover engineering and producing, it also features a wide cast of musicians such as David Grubb (fiddle), Daniel Bridgwood-Hill (fiddle), Neal Heppleston (bass), Joe Danks (drums), Dean Honer from I Monster (synths), Cormac MacDiarmada from Lankum (vocals), Ruth Clinton from Landless (vocals) and Amelia Baker from Cinder Well (vocals). “All of the people involved helped shape this album and make it what it is,” says Ghedi.

What Ghedi has done on this record is create a remarkable space where deeply intimate and personal feelings coexist with reflections on environment, place and society, while also interweaving historical context via traditional songs. Wastelandis as much of a world to explore and exist in as much as it is an album, with Ghedi carving out his distinctly unique sonic language and voice to explore that singular environment.

When Ghedi began working on this album he felt a little lost, unmoored, and unstable. Unsure of himself and the world around him. “I felt very frustrated with the state of England after moving back home to Sheffield from living in Ireland for a couple of years,” he recalls. Yet while this album is one that has unquestionably come from a tricky place for Ghedi on a personal level, it’s also a record that contains flashes of hope and beauty amidst agonising demise and loss. “It was definitely quite a dark time writing the album and working on it,” he says. “But it was also a joyous and uplifting experience. There was a real positive force around it and it felt quite cathartic and so much energy and enthusiasm was getting put into it. Also, I think this album is the closest I’ve got to the sound I’ve been working towards over the years. It feels like it’s at a place which most represents me.” Despite all the turbulence that underpins this record, in the process of creating his masterpiece Ghedi has musically found a place he can now call home.