“Surrey Bells” is the kind of instrumental composition that begins with an image rather than a conventional song idea. For Martin Lloyd Howard, that image is wonderfully specific: two sets of church bells answering each other across a rural Surrey valley on a bright winter morning. From there, two guitars become the voices carrying that scene into sound.
Released on 21 September 2026, the piece is built entirely around the interaction between those guitars. Howard recorded the parts himself at home on his Tanglewood steel-string guitar, using DADGAD tuning throughout. One guitar is given a more distant, echoing quality, creating the impression of sound travelling across space, while the other feels closer. The result is less like listening to two instruments playing alongside each other and more like hearing an environment gradually reveal itself.
That sense of space is central to the composition. Howard describes the interplay between the guitars as what gives the piece its depth and allows it to “ring out,” and it is an effective way of thinking about the music. Rather than filling every moment with notes, the arrangement leaves room for resonance and atmosphere to become part of the experience.
There is also an appealing looseness to Howard’s approach. Although his musical background began in the classical tradition, “Surrey Bells” does not appear interested in the rigid precision that can sometimes define classical guitar writing. Howard emphasises fluidity and organic playing, treating the manner in which the piece is performed as just as important as the notes themselves.
That philosophy places him in an interesting musical lineage. His influences stretch from Elizabethan lutenist John Dowland and classical guitarist Julian Bream to folk players Davey Graham and Martin Simpson, before reaching into the acoustic work of Jimmy Page and Ritchie Blackmore. It is a broad range, but the common thread is the expressive potential of the guitar.
Howard’s wider work similarly focuses on instrumental compositions designed to conjure landscapes, moods and places. “Surrey Bells” feels particularly successful within that idea because the concept is so tangible. You can almost picture the valley before the first bell has finished ringing.
https://soundcloud.com/user-968993567/surrey-bells?utm_source=clipboard&utm_campaign=wtshare&utm_medium=widget&utm_content=https%253A%252F%252Fsoundcloud.com%252Fuser-968993567%252Fsurrey-bellsThere is something quietly cinematic about the result, but it never feels overly dramatic. The piece is meditative while still having movement, and its atmosphere comes from the relationship between the sounds rather than from unnecessary embellishment.
Most importantly, “Surrey Bells” demonstrates how much can be communicated without a lyric. Howard takes a familiar sound from his surroundings and transforms it into a small musical landscape, using two guitars to create distance, response and resonance.
It is an understated piece, but one with a vivid imagination—and sometimes that is all instrumental music needs to be.