Ways of Seeing is a Kerry musician releasing the latest single from his forthcoming debut album ‘End Comes To Light’. Inspired by the remote roads of his home place and a sense of loss, ‘Every Night’ is about trying to escape a memory or thought that torments you when you are alone.
“The scariest feeling from my youth had always been walking the roads at night as I was told so many terrifying tales of the Pooka, Banshee and Dullahan by my grandmother and uncle. The narrow roads were dark and filled with unknowns, a place in the shadows where anything was possible. I slowly realised that these journeys were a psychological test, fears to be overcome in order to move out of the darkness. Often, we can imprison ourselves in a narrative that is detached from reality, a narrative we cannot escape despite going against our usual logic. We learn coping mechanisms to help us recognise and deal with such moments. Nevertheless, sometimes a memory or thought can be so strong that it traps us in that foreboding sense of walking the roads at night and I fear there might even be a part of me that enjoys it.”
Ways of Seeing – Artist Bio
Ways of Seeing is the project of singer, songwriter and multi-instrumentalist James O’Donnell. This is his first solo project after previous musical ventures with bands ‘Hush War Cry’ and ‘Dear Desert’. This new project started in the attic of his childhood home in Kerry where his musical journey began many years before. After converting the attic into a home studio, the unfolding pandemic provided time to flesh out years of voice notes and musical sketches.
The name “Ways of Seeing” came from the idea that songs could reveal parts of the self that might otherwise never have been revealed. In an attempt to capture the subconscious, melodies and lyrics were kept as they came out on first takes of recording. The songs exist as dreamlike stories where the subconscious voice inhabits a world of lush panoramic soundscapes.
Ways of Seeing aims to use musical ideas to dig deeper into knowing one’s self while observing the world from new perspectives. Song-writing can allow us to see the world in ways we never could have imagined, for Ways of Seeing this is just the start of that journey…
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