Armagh has always been a hub for thought, for the arts – in pagan Ireland, it stood as a great royal capital, while it remains a small but immaculately formed city.
It's also home to young songwriter Conchúr White. Drawing on the weight of history around him, he began drawing together a few friends to form Silences.
The project have released a pair of imposing EPs, matching emotive songcraft against some subtle arrangements.
Sterling indie folk with a remarkable sense of emotional weight, Silences are set to complete this EP trilogy with 'Luna'.
Co-produced by Tommy McLaughlin and Declan Legge, it emerges on April 15th. Ahead of this, Clash received a full stream, plus a track-by-track guide penned by Conchúr himself.
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'There’s A Wolf'
'There's A Wolf' is one of our oldest songs. I wrote about three years ago before the formation of 'Silences'. There was quite a difference between it and our other material at that time so we decided to hold off on it. When we found out that we'd be doing this EP both our management and label agreed that this was to be the first track. I find it hard to compare it with anything in particular so maybe it's the sound of us finding our own niche.
'Breathless'
This is the band's favourite track of 'Luna'. I don't believe we've ever had a song that was so polished before entering the studio. The musical input from Tommy and Declan was quite minimal in comparison to the rest of the tracks simply because we knew exactly how it should be. I think we'd all agree that it's the track that we're most excited about.
'Failing To Learn'
'Failing To Learn' is a bit Arctic Monkeys' 'AM' and a bit Death Cab For Cutie's 'Codes And Keys'. We were listening to them quite a bit when the song was written and I think you can probably hear those influences. The song seems to be a favourite amongst friends and I can see why. It was a tricky one to record but we're delighted with how it's turned out.
'Carve Me Open'
On our previous two EPs we've always had a quieter, slow song and it's something I like doing. As long as I can play music, I'll always endeavour to write these types of songs as I believe that they're the ones that tend to resonate with people. This EP is probably our most boisterous to date so this will probably stick out for people. I'm happy for that to happen though, it can be a nice break between the madness.
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Catch Silences at the following shows:
April
15 Belfast Bar Sub
20 Galway Roisin Dubh
23 Bristol The Small Horse
24 Glasgow King Tut’s
25 Manchester Gulivers
27 London St Pancras Old Church
