Christmas cracker: Carol Ann Duffy teams up with Little Machine on festive album

Dark Rose for Christmas reviewed by Write Out Loud

Could poetry provide a Christmas hit this year? The poet laureate, Carol Ann Duffy, has teamed up with Little Machine, a trio of musicians that sets famous and contemporary poems to music, to create Dark Rose for Christmas – 10 album tracks of Christmas poems with musical settings. Little Machine have already added music to a number of the poet laureate’s poems – she has in turn dubbed them “the most brilliant music and poetry band in the world”.  Read the full review.

Dark Rose For Christmas CD art

Dark Rose For Christmas

LiTTLe MACHiNe Christmas album collaboration with Carol Ann Duffy.

‘Dark Rose for Christmas’ is now available to purchase from our online shop £12.99 plus p&p. The Album can also be downloaded from Amazon, iTunes  and CD Baby.

With cover art designed by Tom Duxbury the limited edition CD is expected to sell out quickly so please get orders in fast. To find out more about the project and to receive alerts about the release and our Christmas shows with Carol Ann please subscribe to our newsletter.

Tracklist – click on the title link to hear before you buy
December
The Lineage
Advent
The Bee Carol
The Lord of Misrule
Christmas Eve
Elvis
The Single Bed
The Mistletoe Bride
Dark Rose for Xmas
Oh Hogmanay

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The Ferry ‘Achilles’

The Quiet Grave – Rupert Brooke on Skyros

If you want to sail to Skyros, the island in the middle of the Aegean where Rupert Brooke is buried, you must catch the ferry ‘Achilles’ from the tiny port of Ayia Marina, on the mainland. Nearby lies the beautiful and rarely visited temple at Rhamnous. The deity worshipped there was Nemesis, the Goddess who relentlessly punished human vanity, stupidity, mistakes and sins.

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A Blackbird Sang

CD ‘A Blackbird Sang’ WW1 Poems

A Blackbird Sang is an album of our settings of  6 poems with a WW1 connection.
The CD comes with a 12 page booklet containing the text of the poems, biographical information on the poets and our thoughts on why we chose the poems.
A Black bird sang costs £7.99 (plus P&P) from our online shop.
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Carol Ann Duffy

Carol Ann Duffy with LiTTLe MACHiNe Brighton Dome

Review by Emily Nutbean. (Age 13) for New Writing South

Carol Ann Duffy spoke for around an hour, captivating every single person as she read out her amazing poems; some from the point of view of the wife of a famous man, mythical or real. One of these examples is Mrs. Midas, who is left to deal with the atrocious consequences of her husband’s whimsical wish. Carol Ann Duffy made us laugh and cry; Read more →