Following the acclaimed release of his track ‘Fr. Griffin Avenue’ and its mesmerising video, Connemara songwriter and visual artist Me Auld Flower releases ‘Electricity Comes to the Black Valley’ on 24th September 2021.
Me Auld Flower wrote and recorded the song in isolation during a nationwide lockdown in 2020 in a remote cottage on the west coast of Ireland. “It is inspired by the beauty and simplicity of country life, and references The Black Valley, which was one of the last places on the mainland to acquire domestic electricity in Ireland in the 1970s. The song is about living in a faraway metropolis and being homesick for Ireland. It’s a dream of tranquility”.
Challenging himself to write, produce and perform the entirety of the album himself, The Vaults of Consciousness, Volume II is nine songs of lyrical imagery, incident, and rich sonic texture. On its contrast to his debut album, he says: “Volume II was a completely different experience to the first. While I didn’t have the expertise of a band of amazing musicians, I found working to my own schedule really liberating, and experimenting with an array of different instruments allowed me to pull the sounds out of my mind and into the record, exactly as I imagined them.”
‘Electricity Comes to the Black Valley’ is accompanied by a panoramic music video which documents the west of Ireland wilderness, created by Me Auld Flower himself. Having finished the record last Autumn, he set about creating a visual accompaniment to the music and drew heavily from the majestic Connemara landscape and the crooked streets of the coastal town of Galway.
“Making the videos for these songs was a labour of love. It took an inordinate amount of time but it allowed me to be present in these magical spaces in a way I had never really been before. I was getting up at four in the morning for sunrises, and tracking the light throughout the day as it dipped behind clouds and mountains. It was about more than just the camera I was carrying. It was a joy to spend that time getting to know this land more intimately, particularly as there were very few people around due to the lockdown.”
“It was like having Disneyland to myself. I felt blessed to be living in a place with such splendour and solitude on my doorstep.”
The track is the second single from The Vaults of Consciousness, Volume II, which will be released this winter.
You can find Me Auld Flower and all his music through the below links:
meauldflower.net | Spotify | Youtube | Bandcamp | Instagram | Facebook
