The title of the new record refers to a poem by Michael Hartnett which explores the abiding power of our most profound early creative or aesthetic connections; those signal inspirations which tell us, in a language we don’t yet understand, who we want to be and what that might ask of us. We carry these experiences with us as memory, but our memory changes shape along with the other parts of our identity as we proceed towards and through adulthood. Their significance is muted as they take their place as but one of many memories. The creative person remains awake to the truth and importance of those early realizations by seeking out new ways of expressing and building, by reckoning with the present by questioning memory, and filling the parts of themself that time has emptied out with new community and shared purpose.
These things are rendered by the songs on A Nest of Wrens as a whirling, roaring autumn stormcloud of richly textured guitar interplay shot through with startling melodic flashes and flickering synthesizers, supported by a sturdy and heartening rhythm which both establishes a horizon to be moved towards, and promises calm at the centre. The sounds of the welcoming of a new friend, the departure of a sibling, an enduring alliance.
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