Rachel Mayfield Group: Collect the Hearts

Rachel Mayfield Group: Collect the Hearts 

(The White Dog Is Me Press)

Limited edition paper booklet (No digital edition)

Published 1 May 2026

With only one song released so far, the magnificent History Aligned, this is a bold and unique step taken by a new band: to publish the lyrics to their forthcoming album as a beautifully presented book of poetry.  Introduced by a ‘Manifesto’, it is the work of Rachel Mayfield but under the name of her group, as drummer Dave Twist did the layout, art and publishing, and Darren Birch provided spiritual bass-lines.  Ged Babey asked poet Anita Foxall to give her a more expert opinion on the booklet. 

‘Collect the Hearts ~ Technology cannot take the place of synchronicity.’ This unplanned moment with people I love is proof of that. 

The booklet introduces this season of work, ‘Collect the Hearts’, and has the lyrics to every song on the upcoming album of the same name.

It also has prose work with an element of inspiration that I can’t explain that feels transcribed. I learn from the work myself. The other presence so to speak. The book won’t be printed in this way a second time. Each art piece will be collectable and unique.

It looks beautiful – the art, photos, layout…. and although a slim volume, soft-cover, 20 pages, it’s a priceless piece of art, anticipating the full musical release.

Do the ‘lyrics’ stand as ‘poetry’ though?  I asked Southampton poet, writer and event organiser Anita Foxall if she would help review the collection.

Anita’s Review: Collect the Hearts

When one is asked to explore a book of song lyrics as if they were poems, it is a challenge that can’t be refused. I’m deeply rooted in the poetry world, but with an endless love for music, so I knew this was an opportunity I had to take.

I’ve always had the opinion that many songwriters are, at their core, poets, as artists who use rhythm, repetition, and emotional precision to distil experience into language. This is perfectly exemplified in Collect the Hearts by Rachel Mayfield.

The title sparks curiosity straightaway. At first glance, it might suggest a heartbreaker, someone leaving emotional wreckage behind. But the title needs to be taken literally. This isn’t a collection about breaking hearts; it’s about gathering them, seeking out heart shaped objects, moments, and meanings with a fierce, almost whimsical determination.

Reading these lyrics on the page, without melody or performance, reveals the craft behind them and freed me to see them as writing in their own right, stripped of the music that comes with them. As a collection, it invites the reader to slow down, treating each piece not as a fleeting moment in a track list but as a standalone poem with its own weight and resonance.

The collection opens with a ‘Manifesto’, a declaration of intent that frames the work to come. This is a very personal, artistic statement; a beautiful explanation of the title.

From there, and because we are speaking about songs, it doesn’t disappoint in offering the reader a ‘Libretto’, which is a guide through the collection’s musical pacing.

The first poem song, ‘Volta’, immediately situates us in the world of poetry; it evokes a sonnet, a dramatic change, something unexpected, and yet we are only starting. And though it is not a sonnet, its structure echoes one, ending with the essential turn: change begins with you. Placing ‘Volta’ at the beginning ensures this message becomes the focus through which the rest of the collection needs to be read, the world of introspection and self-acceptance.

It is followed by the brilliant ‘Epitome’ which celebrates communion: with earth, with loved ones, and with the small pleasures that sustain us. Another overt poetic structure appears in ‘Parle’ written in rhyming couplets. These couplets guide us through a poignant sense of invisibility: ‘I am not a woman, and I am not a male / I am a spirit searching for the grail’ and culminate in a desperate plea: Tell me, tell me, listen, listen. The message is clear: communication is what makes us human, what unites us, what allows us to be seen, and I would go even further: art, poetry, music.
The theme of self worth continues in ‘Sate’, which urges acceptance of who we are and what has shaped us. Though it contains a clear chorus, even on the page, it reads as a poem that could easily stand alone as one.

‘Idioms’ returns to a deeply introspective voice, exploring identity, vulnerability, and internal conflict. The title itself signals that meanings lie beyond the literal, that the poem is concerned with the gap between what is said and what is meant.

Across the collection, one striking structural choice appears in the contents pages: beneath each title sits a single sentence (or shall we call it a verse?). One might expect these to be opening lines or key excerpts, but instead they function as distilled descriptions of each poem’s purpose. ‘Anodyne’ is described as ‘How to remember you are magic’; ‘Elixir’ is described as ‘Nature has everything we need’. These fragments act as emotional signposts, guiding the reader before the poem/song is read.

At the end comes the enigmatic Per Saturam, a constellation of independent lines, each complete in itself, yet I would say they form a complete new poem composed of all these fragments on the last page.

Throughout this review, I held myself to the discipline of reading each piece strictly as a poem, without the influence of music. So I challenge to do the same. Even if poetry isn’t usually your thing, read one or two of these pieces on the page before you listen to the songs. You may find that the heart you collect is your own.

~

Anita Foxall (C)

The release date for the album is yet to be announced. 

You can buy the limited edition lyric book on Bandcamp

History Aligned is NOT included in the book. 

Intro  Ged Babey.  Main content Anita Foxall