Old Me by "The Poet"

This video makes me feel so much more than my usual releases. Maybe because it doesn’t involve just myself, but instead incredible people who share stories that overlap in some way.

It feels a fateful pairing of forms that were created separately, yet work better together as a whole. “Old Me” is a recording of the person I wrote my song “The Poet” about, performed live in 2019 before she lost her voice and mind at the mercy of a broken healthcare system.

If you’ve been following my last year of music, you may know of “The Poet” already. A song I dedicated to my mum after we lost her in January 2023. Though my friend had suffered greatly and was left unable to share poetry any longer, every lyric seemed to align with the fate my mother also suffered in the end. I felt both of these rare and beautiful souls weren’t treated as people, but more like numbers or beds to spare. Both powerful with their poetry and painting, it was there I thought maybe it’s our world that’s most unwell? Lacking in the very essence and compassion both of these women possessed.

When placing "Old Me" by Rebecca Riley (The Poet) over the instrumental track it felt powerful. Not to mention the pairing of Arianna Sansone dancing to “The Poet”, captured by Ed Hall in one take as she danced to a song she’d never heard before. It  feels important to mention that she’s never heard this poem, yet her performance weaves perfectly with Becky's words.

It all feels bound together by a force none of us can consciously control. Simply being conduits of a shared universal message of human suffering and finding salvation, peace and beauty within.

Finally I wanted to add that while finalising the video this week, Becky reached out to tell me she’s been writing poetry - she’s found her voice again. She hadn’t known I was getting ready to share this video yet. And as ever, I’m in awe with life’s mysteries and also - Becky’s new poems.

Enjoy and please share, for anyone suffering with depression, anxiety or addiction. I believe Becky’s words may have the power to help in some way.

Year of the bloom

Hello there!

I’ve been quiet (well, quieter than my usual tirade of posts and creative frenzy).

How’s everyone doing out there?

I wanted to update those who may at all be interested… 2024 is looking to be the year that I share and do more than I ever have. I’ve been chasing my own tail for years, in an effort to catch up with all I repressed and never put out, musically.

I have this image in my mind that I’m entering a phase where I don’t want to blink and miss it all. Where the bud is finally blooming and we’re past the thorny stretch.

It’s probably going to look like all I share this year has just fallen out of the sky, but truthfully I’ve been silently chipping away at it all for years in the dark. And in that place, often I couldn’t even see if it’d ever reach the light of day.

So, I think I can see it will now. I’m so excited. I’m just giving you a heads up - it’ll be a lot of music, madness, and most of all - fun. It’s all right around the corner. Jump in, join me!

X

Magic of the Micro & Macro...

I wanted to share a few pics from the feather sessions we recorded last year. Amidst it being the hottest day of ‘22 when filming, it had a few more redeeming qualities. Namely the gifts of Ed Hall who shot the entire thing so seamlessly, Arianna Sansone who embodied the songs so beautifully, including the ladies that continually astound me with their musicality: Izzy Baker, Anna Corcoran, Rachel Nicholas and Helen Milroy.

There were so many nods to magic that day… I’ve been dying to mention the timing of those two natural spotlights piercing through the sun roof and glittering over Arianna half way through filming feather. Ed managed to grab that moment flawlessly.

Even the blissful stroll home in the August sun, past the docks and watching the swans sway on the water felt significant to me. It’s not that I was seeking magic, but more it presented itself so naturally that day.

There’s so much meaning for me woven into feather, as both a musical and personal journey. And while I had it everything planned out, to share and keep to some militant schedule, I discovered time and time again that magic cannot be bent or controlled by my own will. The micro (me) has no permission to demand from the macro (life). Magic cannot be chained nor held captive, pushed to perform when “you” are ready. It’s got its own flightpath.

I guess where I’m going with this waffling essay, is that the remainder of what I still had planned for feather and never quite got round to, I will leave until it happens organically and contribute to the project only when it feels right.

I have so much lined up for 2024 that beats to a different drum. Feather was the shedding of a self that no longer serves or suits the skin I’m now in. Where once I felt conflicted by the aches of time, the heart and mind is where I now feel at home again.

There’ll be more* - you’ll find “The Feather Collection” YouTube playlist building patiently over the year with some “String” shows which emulate the emphatic sound we managed to create at the Philharmonic this year.

Thanks anyone who’s shared enthusiasm with me over my creative processes. I can’t wait to continue following the joy!

xx

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Watch the "Feather" session here: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=GPFBkfNNtmY

Listen to the Feather EP here (Spotify link): https://open.spotify.com/album/14zHjkBFu54B4VVGuLEGo4?si=e2fe6c39ab7b40ff