Northumbrian electro-folk musician and producer Frankie Archer shares new single 'Death and The Maiden' - the latest taste of her debut album 'The Dance Of Death' - out 5th June via prrr of the bear. Frankie Archer will tour the album this autumn with dates in London, Liverpool, Gateshead, Bristol and Birmingham.
Drawing on a 1907 retelling of Death and the Maiden, the track centres on a young woman’s futile attempt to bargain her way out of mortality - a premise rooted in folklore, but delivered here with scale and urgency.
What begins in stark, folk-led minimalism gradually unravels, expanding into a dense, unpredictable arrangement where traditional instrumentation is pushed into something far less contained.
Speaking on new single 'Death and The Maiden', Frankie Archer said:
"The inevitability of death has haunted humans throughout history. In folklore, Death appears personified as a shadowy figure who comes to claim you when it is your time. There are countless tellings of people trying to bargain with death. In my version, based on one collected in 1907, a maiden offers death gold, jewels and expensive clothes, just for a few more years of life. But death is final and undeniable.
"When I was arranging my version of the song I did some research on the story of Death and the Maiden and I found a string quartet by Schubert with that name. The opening phrase floored me and it perfectly matched what I’d produced so far. I recorded the first few bars straight away at home, pitch-shifting my fiddle to mimic the cello and double bass, and that’s what you hear in the song. As the album opener I wanted it to hit hard so there’s voices in multiple octaves, huge drums and an unhinged guitar solo, which is my first time playing guitar on a recording."
On her forthcoming debut album 'The Dance Of Death', Archer reconstructs some of the oldest songs in the English canon through fractured, future-facing production. Working from archival ballads of obsession, devotion and loss, she warps fiddle lines, processes her own vocals and drives the material with pulsing drum machines and colourful synth arrangements.
Co-produced with Guy Massey (Kylie Minogue, Spiritualized, Richard Hawley), the record expands English folk into something immersive and modern. Influenced by the work of Little Dragon, Hannah Peel, Rosalía, Björk and Bat for Lashes, Archer approaches folk as a producer first.
Inspired by the medieval Danse Macabre, 'The Dance Of Death' is, in Archer’s words, “a collection of nu-ancient trad bangers” - stark narratives of mortality and longing rebuilt through meticulous studio experimentation.
Frankie Archer's debut album 'The Dance Of Death' is out 5th June via prrr of the bear. New single 'Death and The Maiden' is out now.
LIVE DATES
27 September - Gateshead, The Glasshouse
30 September - Liverpool, Liverpool Philharmonic
01 October - London, King’s Place
02 October - Bristol, St George’s
03 October - Birmingham, Midlands Arts Centre
'The Dance Of Death' album artwork and track list
1. Death and The Maiden
2. The Dance of Death
3. The Outlandish Knight
4. In Brunton Town
5. The Unquiet Grave
6. The Demon Lover
7. Young Edwin of the Lowlands Low
8. Oxford City
9. The Lover’s Ghost
More about Frankie Archer
Frankie Archer has exploded onto the electrofolk scene with music that transcends stereotypes. Her forthcoming debut album 'The Dance of Death' follows the release of her 2024 EP 'Pressure and Persuasion' and 2023's 'Never So Red'.
Winner of the 2023 Christian Raphael Prize, Frankie Archer has been featured on ‘Later... With Jools Holland’ and championed by tastemakers at BBC Radio 2 and BBC 6 Music. With the release of 2024 EP 'Pressure and Persuasion', Frankie received glowing press support from The Guardian who named her a One To Watch, alongside further praise from The Quietus, NME Magazine, CLASH Magazine and more. Following the release of her debut EP ‘Never So Red’ (November, 2023), she has supported the likes of The Futureheads and The Last Dinner Party on tour.
Frankie Archer played Glastonbury in 2024 and performed a live televised version of EP track 'Lovely Joan' for BBC Two. Frankie also performed at 2024's BBC Proms alongside Hannah Peel, Beibei Wang and Hania Rani. With her unique live set turning heads wherever she goes, Frankie is quickly establishing herself as one to watch in the alternative space.