Scottish-rooted group òrain have shared their new EP ‘Hanging Fruit’ in full.
The material on the EP started life during ad hoc DIY sessions in a flat on the top floor of an old brewery in Edinburgh. Later transplanted to London, the songs evolved over time – setting down seed, they grew in different, often highly unexpected, shapes.
Grappling with the Scottish and English folk traditions, the music òrain make contains shadows of John Martyn or Bert Jansch, for example, while also absorbing the sunset harmonies of the Laurel Canyon school on the American West Coast.
Finally persuaded to enter an actual, proper studio, òrain found everything clicked seemingly into place – two days, four songs, and five musicians all working to a singular purpose.
Out now via Practise Music, debut EP ‘Hanging Fruit’ is supremely absorbing, and comes just as Spring begins to truly assert itself.
Lead songwriter Fraser Johnston (guitar and vocals) is joined by Rueben Toy (guitar), Kathryn Reed (flute), Molly Ingleby (vocals), and Magnus Kramers (drums).
As Fraser dubs the EP: “It’s the result of five musicians finding something in real time—no safety net, just instinct and trust.”
“I think all of these songs sort of live in that in-between space, where you’re not really in the moment, but you’re not fully in the past either. Like sifting through a memory you didn’t mean to remember. There’s something soft and a little blurry about them, emotionally and sonically. Not because the feelings aren’t strong, but because they’re layered, or not fully understood. Like you’re sitting with things rather than trying to fix them. They’re songs about the weather, but not the kind you see out the window.”
Tune in now.
Photo Credit: Lucas Edwards
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òrain’s ‘Hanging Fruit’ EP Has A Stark Yet Bucolic Atmosphere – clashmusic.com
