In July, Lankum's Radie Peat released her debut solo single, a take on the Irish folk song "Still I Love Him." Now, the Dublin musician is announcing her debut solo album No Human Tongue Can Tell. She's sharing the new single "The Moon And Stars" today.
"There are coded references to unwanted pregnancies and abortions within the song, as well as references to rue, a herb which was used to cause miscarriage, I wanted to represent these experiences from the woman's perspective — to connect us with her experience," she explains. "When I wrote the lines that refer to screeching and roaring, I was recalling the final scene of John B. Keane's 1959 play, Sive."
"The seed for this album was planted a long time ago," she says, expounding:
It's been ticking along in the background of my head for probably 15 years or so. When I was in my 20s I watched a documentary on Mike Oldfield making Tubular Bells and the idea just stuck that I would like to try record like that, where you write and play all the intersecting parts. I found the idea of being limited by your own mind and abilities, with all the blind spots and personal preferences, very appealing, and I felt it would make something definitively unique, for better or for worse. The collection of folk songs on the album came together easily, and it's only now I see a thematic link between them. They are largely songs of female struggle, suffering, strength and endurance. But there are many about love as well, with all the complications that brings. I've put a lot of myself in this album and I hope it lands where I was aiming for. Musically speaking this album is mostly influenced of the following; Shirley and Dolly Collins, Enya, Lal Waterson, Katie Kim, Jackson C Frank, Karen Dalton, Nellie Weldon, Liam Weldon. I'd like to thank John Spud Murphy for making this album with me, without his talent and patience it simply wouldn't exist.
"The Moon And Stars" is haunting from the start but builds into a riveting, electronic-speckled finale. Watch the music video below directed by Peter Eason Daniels.
TRACKLIST:
01 "Hares On The Mountain"
02 "The Moon And Stars"
03 "Willow Garden"
04 "Luisne"
05 "Same Old Man"
06 "Dark Hore On The Wind"
07 "Still I Love Him"
08 "Bonnie Boy"
09 "Cailín Deas"
No Human Tongue Can Tell is out 11/13 on Rough Trade. Pre-order it here.
