Following a phenomenal media reception to new singles ‘The Ground’ and ‘Apocryphal’, Limerick collaborators windings’ prepare to release their upcoming album, Focus On The Past 5, on November 12.
Recorded by Girlband’s Daniel Fox Focus On The Past 5 sees windings delve a little deeper into the ingenuity that has made them one of Ireland’s most captivating and innovative bands over the last decade.
Focus On The Past 5 is an uncompromising, unrelenting, yet rewarding look at life in all its prisms. A deep dive into the half remembered truths of youth, confusion and doubt, uncertainty and fear, the perception and resigned acceptance of the inevitability of end times. What makes the album stand out in the Irish music landscape is windings awareness of place where they find and take comfort in the familiar. It’s a slice of dystopian edginess from the Limerick outfit, bringing their inimitable musical imaginations to the table once again.
New singles ‘Apocryphal’ and ‘The Ground’ seeped into the consciousness of Irish media and refused to leave. ‘Apocryphal’ is about the seemingly universal human desire for “happiness” and how that desire might become all-encompassing and potentially damaging if we don’t take some time to acknowledge that there are in fact other humans around us, living, breathing, and also trying to be happy. Meanwhile, the fuzzy bass on ‘The Ground’ that sits under the breezy track is indicative of the darker lyrical themes that lie beneath an almost playful facade . . . sometimes it’s hard to keep the mask on.
In recent years, windings have captured imaginations with the Choice Music Prize-nominated, I Am Not The Crow (2012) and Be Honest And Fear Not (2016) – two albums of musical ingenuity, innovation and lyrical complexity. On the new album the band say: “The songs sat and matured like stinky cheese for all of that year, briefly getting an airing for one or two live streamed shows we were able to do over lockdown. While the music and arrangements didn’t change hugely over the course of the year, the lyrics and themes are very different to the 2019 versions, as life unfurled in many different ways for the different members of windings. “
‘The Ground’, ‘’Apocryphal’ and the subsequent album Focus On The Past 5 are getting their release on one of Ireland’s longest standing and critically renowned independent labels, Out on a Limb Records. Focus On The Past 5 was recorded & mixed by Daniel Fox at Sonic Studios and mastered by Richard Dowling at WAV Mastering.
windings are a 5-piece rock/alt/pop/indie/folk band from Limerick City featuring Stephen Ryan, Liam Marley, Patrick O’Brien, Mike Gavin, and Brian Meaney. A one-time one-man endeavour since Giveamanakick’s Steve Ryan released the eponymous Windings album in 2005, the band expanded to a quintet by It’s Never Night in 2010. Since the release of their Choice nominated third album I Am Not The Crow in 2012, the band released split record with Dublin indie outfit Land Lovers in 2014 and collaborated with fellow Limerick act Rusangano Family and Naive Ted. The Choice nominated Be Honest and Fear Not was a return to form in 2016. During lockdown, windings members kept themselves busy with solo projects (King Pallas), recording and mixing other bands (Powpig, Annas Anchor, Japanese Jesus) and collaborations and album guest spots with the likes of Denise Chaila and Murli.
‘Focus on the Past 5’ is out Friday November 12th.
