Croftwork (stylised on the album cover as CroftworK) is the fourth album by Scottish Celtic fusion group Peatbog Faeries, recorded in Roag on the Isle of Skye, and released in 2005 on the band's own Peatbog Records label. It was released as the label's second album following on from the band's previous album Welcome to Dun Vegas (2003). They recorded the album at Phat Controller Productions on the band's native Isle of Skye.
The album sees the band combine a wide variety of sounds, and also introduced a prominent brass section (The Wayward Boys) which critics said gave parts of the album a jazz feel. Music on the album includes experiments with electronica and dance music, jazz, including subgenres such as lounge-jazz, funk and Latin. The album was released in October 2005 and received positive reviews from fans and critics alike. One of the album's most popular tracks, "The Anthropologist", often opened the band's live shows in 2008.
Background and recording
After recording their electronica-influenced second album Faerie Stories in 1999, Peatbog Faeries encountered problems when the record label registered to release the album, Astor Place Recordings, closed due to bankruptcy. When the album was finally released in June 2001 on their previous label Greentrax Recordings, the band had decided it would be easier to set up their own label, Peatbog Records, for which they recorded their third album Welcome to Dun Vegas (2003). Welcome to Dun Vegas marked another stark, stylistic shift in the band's sound, featuring a wide range of influences, such as African music as well as experimental effects including backwards drumming and a track based around a kitchen cooker timer. It also marked the first time the band used vocals, and whilst only a small amount is featured, the last two tracks feature the vocal group The Veganites. In addition to touring the album throughout 2003 on the band's regular folk festival routine, the band also performed a low-key performance at Glastonbury Festival, prompting one NME journalist to note "I wanted to check out R.E.M. but sorry guys, it's your misfortune to be on at the same time as The Peatbog Faeries, the highlight of Glastonbury. Mere earth words can't do the Faeries justice...".
The enthusiastic reaction to the band only prompted enthusiasm for their subsequent album, Croftwork. The distance between recording Welcome to Dun Vegas and the new album became the shortest yet. Seeking a new musical direction, they enlisted several guest musicians for Croftwork, and recorded it in 2005 at Phat Controller Productions in Roag, Isle of Skye, with co-production between the band's longtime production duo of Calum MacLean and the band's percussionist Iain Copeland. The album was mastered by Denis Blackham of Skye Mastering. The band announced the album in 2005.
Music
Musical style
Croftwork was described by its press-hand out as "everything you've ever heard from the band in the past with a distinctly new sound for now" and by the band's website as "their most ambitious and dynamic offering to date." The "ambitious" and "dynamic" album is characterised by its "rich and varied instrumental maelstrom" and has been described as "slicker, funkier, harder hitting, and slightly less chaotic" than previous albums by the band. fRoots commented that the "unapologetic" album runs "from hi-tech drizzle reeling to plaintive electronic airs." Luxury Web Magazine said the album displays "a sound that is rock, Celtic and jazz" and commented that "energy is the key to this release, and you feel it throughout all the tracks and through all the instruments."