Garefowl Release New Album 'Things That Vanish'
Today, Garefowl release their new album Things That Vanish on AD 93. An international collective of musicians connected to the archipelago of St Kilda, Scotland, combining strings and electronics, Garefowl recorded their second album on Hirta, the main island of St Kilda, at night. The soundscapes of Hirta breathe across the record: a quiet rolling swell of winds, waves, birds, and the otherworldly thrum of the snipe.
Taking influence from the traditional folk music of St Kilda, the tunes on the record are inspired by the threatened seabirds of the islands (Puffin, Guillemot, Storm Petrel, Cormorant, Shearwater, Kittiwake, Gannet, Bonxie, and Fulmar). The band were intrigued by the folk stories around these birds, and how they often are depicted to imbue a primal, dark and haunting nature. In such tales, the birds retain a quality akin to a sea monster: preying upon calves and sheep, and believed to be the pelagic souls of drowned sailors or the cursed spirits of cruel captains.
No synthesizers were used on the recording. Instead, the production draws entirely on sampled and processed field and hydrophone recordings collected on St Kilda. Additionally, rock or bone samples collected from the island were used to create drones by Richard O'Flynn and Joe Gardner. The samples were analysed using X-Ray diffraction (XRD), which creates a spectrum with peaks corresponding to the sample's crystalline structure. The peaks in each spectrum were used to create a set of sine waves unique to each sample, following a method developed by Bill Sethares at the University of Wisconsin, and these sine waves are blended together to form the drones.
Garefowl’s Things That Vanish is available from today, digitally and on Standard Black Vinyl via AD 93. For more information and to order head HERE.
The Garefowl project was originally conceived by Ewan Macdonald and his father Murdo, relatives of one of the men who killed the last Great Auk (Garefowl), to reflect on and mark this family history. Garefowl members now comprise: Nathan Bontrager (viola da gamba/harmonium/banjo), Stuart Graham (bouzouki/harmonica/harmonium), Chris Jones (concertina/mandolin), Ewan Macdonald (fiddle/smallpipe drone), Richard O’Flynn (island sounds/percussion/XRD drones), and Jess Whelligan (cello).
Garefowl’s first album Cliffs was released in 2020, completed during the Coronavirus lockdown, with musicians collaborating remotely. It contains five immersive instrumental interpretations of traditional St Kildan songs sourced from archive recordings and manuscript collections, alongside three modern tunes written on or about St Kilda.
This October, Garefowl will headline shows in the UK including a London show at Stone Nest on 31 October. See below for a full list of dates, tickets available from HERE.
GAREFOWL LIVE
28 October - GLOSSOP, UK, The Globe
29 October - GLASGOW, UK, Glad Cafe
30 October - LIVERPOOL, UK, St Brides Church
31 October - LONDON, UK, Stone Nest