Today sees the release of CYRM – the highly anticipated debut album from experimental doom folk band, ØXN, on Claddagh Records.
The record is available across digital streaming platforms, on vinyl and CD now.
ØXN comprising Radie Peat, Katie Kim, John ‘Spud’ Murphy and Eleanor Myler, will play two live dates at The Sugar Club, Dublin next week, on Tue 31st October and Wed 1st November. Presented by Enthusiastic Eunuch and Foggy Notions, support will be from Iona Zajac (31/10) and Poor Creature (1/11).
The band says of CYRM: “We had rehearsed so intensely for our live stream in the Martello tower that we figured it would be the best thing to book in studio time right away. So, during some phase of the pandemic, we went up to Hellfire Studios and got battered by gales and petted cows while putting down the bones of the album. Some of said gale can be heard on The Feast. The rest of it, mainly vocals, recorded by Katie and Spud back in Guerilla Studios.”
CYRM is a six-track album featuring traditional folk songs and covers. Just over 45 minutes in total length, it features ‘The Feast‘, written by Katie Kim; original arrangements of traditional folk songs: ‘The Trees They Do Grow High‘, ‘Love Henry‘ and ‘Cruel Mother‘ – the latter uses parts of an arrangement by Andy Fenstermaker (Andy The Doorbum); and two covers (‘The Wife of Michael Cleary‘ by Maija Sofia and ‘Farmer in the City‘ by Scott Walker).
‘Cruel Mother’ is a traditional song, possibly originating from the mid-18th century, intended at the time as a cautionary tale. Women were considered criminals if they had illegitimate children; were considered demonic rather than suffering from mental illness or distress. It’s a song of persecution, abuse, infantilism and guilt based on the version by Andy the Doorbum.
‘The Trees They Do Grow High’ follows on with the theme of oppression and social pressures. Sung from the woman’s perspective, the subject is an arranged marriage of a 24-year-old woman, by her father, to a boy who is much younger than she. There are numerous versions of both the tune and lyrics; in this version, the groom is fourteen when he marries, a father at fifteen and in his grave a year later.
CYRM’s first single, ‘Love Henry’, is another traditional song, based on the version by Judy Henske. The band says of the song: “It was a challenge to do musical justice to something so wrathful and dramatic. We tried to build the tension and drama with every verse until it sounded maniacal. ‘Henry Lee’ dates back to the Middle Ages and has its origins in the British Isles (as do all of the ballads collected by Francis James Child). It tells the story of a young man (a knight in some versions) who spurns a lady’s affections and is murdered by her in revenge.”
‘The Feast’ is a Katie Kim song, reworked for ØXN. It is inspired by Nick Cave’s 1989 novel And The Ass Saw The Angel which tells the story of Euchrid Eucrow: a mute boy born to an abusive drunken mother and a father obsessed with animal torture. Euchrid’s mental breakdown includes horrific angelic visions, and the story builds towards the boy exacting terrible vengeance on the people who have made him suffer. The original version of this song is featured on the 2012 Katie Kim album Cover & Flood.
‘The Wife of Michael Cleary’ is a cover of the song by Irish artist Maija Sofia from her 2019 album, Bath Time. ØXN say: “We’ve always been huge fans of Maija and her evocative songwriting. Katie and Radie provided backing vocals for her performance on the Guerilla Live streaming show during the pandemic. The story of Bridget Cleary is thematically a harrowing companion piece to the Cruel Mother: Bridget is blamed, punished and demonised for events out of her control.”
Album closer ‘Farmer in the City’ is a Scott Walker song with lyrics somewhat inspired by a translation of the Pier Paolo Pasolini poem ‘Una tanti dialoghi’. In the song, Walker laments the life and death of filmmaker Pasolini and also Pasolini’s great love and life companion, actor Ninetto Davoli. As a self-professed communist, Pasolini idealised the commune that worked the land.
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