This section is extremely cinematic and as the track builds to a tumultuous end the emotions run high. It was apparent to me that Friers had a wider vision when I worked on a track with the band many moons ago. It never ceases to amaze how ASIWYFA continue to evolve their sound exploring new territories. That screeching airplane going down guitar that appeared on The Endless Shimmering can be faintly heard and then the band take things down to an almost silence, they were only teasing you.Įmma and Neil briefly meet in the laid back ‘Hold’ section as the dynamics of the piece simmer down to minimal percussion and the experimental tones of Heirs makes a return.
The strings take flight and are an enthralling delight adding colourful hues. For the first time there is a sizeable swell in volume and you get a thrilling feeling of things about to erupt. He recalls better days and being in love as the instrumentation springs and pops with a euphoric enthusiasm. Clutch’s Neil Fallon is the next voice heard on the record, replying back with a booming “I missed you”. For the first time Rory gets to work up a little fretboard frenzy and things get jazzy too with some dexterous drumming from Wee. The clipped guitars at the start of ‘Lung’ echo the Letters EP when the band made the full-on jump into math rock. Wee gets to cut loose as this part winds into something more muscular, yet still retaining an air of calm and decorum. I can only imagine how good this will feel with the visuals accompanying the music. The Arco String Quartet live and breathe a wondrous majesty, creating an otherworldly atmospheric and when those angelic multi-layered voices float in, this section soars to heavenly heights. The familiar tap-tap trickery of Chris Wee steps up the tempo for ‘Dive Pt.2’ and the beautiful mix of strings and basic drums/guitar/bass effortlessly pleases as the strings swoop and soar. Her final words “I’ve missed you” leaving the listener tentatively pondering where Jettison will take them. ‘Dive Pt 1’ introduces the piece with mournful sighing strings and lush guitar strums while Emma Ruth Rundle intimates an emotional prelude to lost love.
Individual tracks do exist but to play them in isolation really doesn’t make sense. I would advise the only way to listen to Jettison is as a single piece of music. Then Covid came along to, well, you know what happened next… Work started on the recording as far back as 2018 but sadly for the band, the original release of Jettison as a performance came at the same time the band tragically lost a close friend. Friers explains “Making a longer piece of music was something I’d wanted to do for a long time…I always liked albums and pieces of music that gave you a bigger space to get lost in”. Visual artist Sam Wiehl has created a film to accompany the sounds and there have been and will be sporadic performances of Jettison. In conjunction with orchestrator Connor O’Boyle, the core unit of Rory Friers (guitar), Niall Kennedy (guitar), Johnny Adgers (bass) and Chris Wee (drums) teamed up with the Arco String Quartet to create the music. (I tried to buy the CD but postage costs from their US label were prohibitive).
But thankfully, they are still together and the multimedia piece Jettison, is finally getting a release, albeit somewhat limited, as a 1000 copy vinyl print. Line-up changes, record label changes and the huge uncertainty of not being able to tour, their prime source of income, probably making the band question if they could even still exist.
A lot has changed for the band in that time. Can it really be 16 years since And So I Watch You From Afar first started treading the boards of Belfast’s pubs and clubs, creating massive waves? It feels like a lifetime ago.
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