Louise releases ‘Glory’ On April 16th 2019, the 273rd anniversary of the Battle of Culloden. A fully orchestrated battle cry, ‘Glory’ is inspired by, and dedicated to, the Highlanders who lie beneath the moor.
“I’ve travelled the globe, but no site have I seen more sacred than Culloden,” said Louise, whose family lived just across the Moray Firth from the moor. “Standing on that battlefield, that mass grave, you can sense the lingering souls of the 1200-1600 Jacobites who were slaughtered in minutes defending their Heritage against a German Hannoverian Dynasty who have controlled our monarchy ever since. The eerie silence of those boggy graves, framed by the grace of the highlands, the air remains wet with profound tragedy to this day.”
And Fraser’s connection to the battle is beyond geographical. “My father, James Lethen Young Fraser, would share his recurring nightmares about being a soldier at the battle of Culloden. He would describe the layout of the battlefield, the shame of hiding behind a specific stone, the horror of seeing his clansmen fight magnificently at the front lines, ultimately outnumbered and slaughtered in minutes. A part of me thinks that perhaps these were ‘emotional metaphor’ dreams. But the more I researched the battle and discovered that his dreams so closely resemble the truth, a part of me can’t help wonder if he was actually there….’
Indeed Debbie Reid, of the Culloden Battlefield and Visitor Centre, said: “The Fraser Clan fought on the Jacobite side and saw some of the heaviest losses as they were in the middle of the front line and were among the first to charge.”
“Ultimately, with Glory I wanted to capture both the magnificence of the Highlands and the profound loss the Highlanders suffered at and beyond Culloden”. And to get it right, the song was almost a year in the making. Written by Louise in Scotland, produced by Martin Tichy in Los Angeles, and mixed by Martin Tichy and Dietz Tinhof at Swoon Factory in Vienna, ‘Glory’ juxtaposes full on war drums, massive string sections, and a rapturous chorus against darkly poetic intimate verses. Check out the preview video on YouTube before the track drops on iTunes and all the usual streaming sites on April 16th.