across the water (uk, 1975)

• Format: Vinyl LP, archival album reissue, remastered, limited edition
• 500 copies limited
• Packaging: Replica gatefold sleeve reproducing the handmade presentation of the original acetates
• Original edition: Two privately cut acetate copies

Across the Water is an exceptionally rare British private recording created in 1975 by university friends Andrzej “Andy” Werno and Peter McKerrow. Conceived as a true split album, each musician composed and recorded one complete side, resulting in two contrasting but complementary musical journeys.

The album was assembled using a modest home-recording setup, with instruments and voices overdubbed between two tape machines. The completed tapes were taken to a private acetate-cutting facility in South-West London, where only two copies were produced—one for each musician. Handmade gatefold covers were constructed using enlarged photographs of the remote Scottish archipelago of St Kilda.

Andy Werno's side contains five intimate singer-songwriter pieces shaped by homesickness, separation and memories of Canada. “The Bay” opens the album with a wistful folk atmosphere, while “Teenage Red Indian Dream” and “Song for Fall” combine reflective lyrics with understated psychedelic touches.

“Newfy Song” draws directly upon Werno's Canadian background, and “I'll Give You Sunshine” closes the first side with a warm but melancholy performance. The simplicity of the arrangements gives the songs an unusually personal character, positioned somewhere between private-press folk, Leonard Cohen-style songwriting and gentle early-seventies psychedelia.

Peter McKerrow's second side is occupied by the extended three-part “Island Suite.” The composition was inspired by a formative visit to St Kilda, where McKerrow travelled as a teenager to assist with a census of the island's rare Soay sheep.

Beginning with “The Volcano,” the suite develops through stately keyboard and guitar themes before moving into the more elaborate “The Gathering of the Creatures.” Classical ideas, progressive-rock structures and atmospheric instrumental passages create a vivid impression of the isolated island landscape.

“End of the Utopian Dream” brings the suite to a darker and more reflective conclusion. Its shifting melodies and dramatic development contrast strongly with Werno's intimate folk songs, yet both sides share a sense of distance, memory and emotional isolation.

For decades, Across the Water existed only through the two original acetates, making it one of the rarest British progressive-folk recordings of the period. This limited Seelie Court edition restores the complete album and recreates its remarkable handmade gatefold presentation.

Track listing:

Side A – Andrzej Werno

1. The Bay
2. Teenage Red Indian Dream
3. Song for Fall
4. Newfy Song
5. I'll Give You Sunshine

Side B – Peter McKerrow

1. The Island Suite:
   1. The Volcano
   2. The Gathering of the Creatures
   3. End of the Utopian Dream