Into Water

Into Water was written during late 2021 and early 2022, and reflects many of the feelings, ideas, books and experiences I was encountering during the lead up and during that time.
So something about the songs…

The song opens with A Universe in Love, which was originally a poem, none of which made the song. The tune reflects a mix of humanity, science, poverty and of course how love weaves all things together. If you listen to nothing else on this album listen to this song and the amazing voice of Sarah Lloyde. Falling into White features the lovel bass playing of Spiro Kolovos and gorgeous singing and violin work of Emma Luker, and is a song that reflects the mystery of what lies beyond the veil of ego.

We then move onto Someone I once knew, a song which I originally wrote five years ago but only liked the start so I rewrote in the lead up to the album and even after re-writing still was finding more parts, but I had to stop somewhere. Song exhibits Quentin Eyres ability to bring out every aspect of a song and the tune itself is about our experience of changing in ourselves and in our ability to reach out to fellow humans as we move through life. This is followed by The Ferryman a nod to the wonderful book Siddhartha and exhibits the lovely varied musical tones of Michelle Byrne.

Snow on my Window Sill was written to reflect the experience of having a loved one in trouble who closes themselves off from people and all you want to do is unconditionally support them and your wish to sit with them just in silence until they come through it. Quentin Eyre’s Wurlitzer really adds some subtle moments in this song.

The next song Travellin’ Light is about how we travel through life for a short time (Across the Universe) while also discussing poverty, salt of the Earth people, domestic violence and unconditional love. Thanks to Blaze Foley for inspiring this song. This is followed by Letter to a Friend where you get to hear Sarah Lloyde again with her amazing supporting vocals interpreting the song beautifully. The song explores the subconscious, the power of one, gender and the sacred quiet solitary moments of our lives.

After living by the sea and reading about the wilds of the oceans and always dreaming of loving on a Ketch I wrote ‘Round the Cape. If you were wondering Mary could be the name of the boat or the love interest of the Captain. Thanks to Gavin O’Loghlin for really encouraging me to get this one and the other guitar parts on the whole album. This is followed by A Moment’s Kiss, discussing the intimacy of the present moment and inspired the poetry of Rumi. Thanks to Emma Luker’s lovely creative backing vocals which added so much to this song.

Thinking things might have been different then, is a nod to my earlier life with my beautiful brother. It’s about how I would have love to have done better for him and made us both stronger. I hope he's listening.

Silent Spring is about the internal emotional, spiritual, physical experience of being a human. We feel the tide, the flow and try to make something solid out of it. Thanks to Gavin and Quentin for their patient work of melding guitar parts into this song with the rest of the instrumentation.

I wrote three songs, The Golden Child and Waterwheel and a third song not on this album Water and Fire all around the same time. Six months later I read a book on Taoism which I knew nothing about prior to and all titles appeared in the book as concepts in Taoism which surprised me and made me smile. So both songs are a bit of a mystery to me but I love them as gentle meditations on the inner life. Thanks to Michelle Byrne for her contribution to these songs.

Finally we close with Gone by Spring which is a reflection on loss both physical and emotional. This song is about no one in particular, just images of unnecessary loss, loss of possibility, opportunity and friendship. Thanks to Jean-Pierre Calabretto for harmonica and the lovely vocal tones of Quentin Eyres and Emma Luker on this country ballad.