Quick Questions: Snowpoet

Concert Promotions Intern Becky Davies talks to Lauren Kinsella of Snowpoet ahead of their concert at Turner Sims on Saturday 5 June

RB: How would you describe your music to somebody who hasn’t heard it before?

LK: Recently, Cormac Larkin (Irish Times) who reviewed Wait For Me said ‘Snowpoet cheerfully fly past whatever genre nets may be thrown at them, combining complex musical ideas and penetrating lyrics with an open, expansive palette and a rhythmic excitement that will resonate with anyone whose ears have been opened by Björk, Kate Bush or Goldfrapp‘. I appreciate Cormac’s words here; we are not trying to fit into any genre, but we hope that our music can be appreciated by fans of indie, folk, chamber, acoustic, all types of new music really!

RB: What impact did lockdown have on the creative process behind the album?

LK: Unlike our last album, Chris and I were writing and composing separately during the pandemic. With Wait For Me we’d send each other ideas until we could meet and record again. This was a new way of working and it took a little bit of resilience and patience. Usually we spend a lot of time writing together in the studio, in parks, in our homes. So this was a new experience but it brought about a change in how we work together and it helped expand our individual processes.

Chris was amazing to work with as always. I value our working relationship and friendship a lot, as does he. We are very proud of this album and we hope people like the music!

RB: You describe Wait For Me as an exploration of the ‘deeper questions on how we love and how we let go in a time of profound confusion’. You’re renowned for your vocal improvisation – did you improvise any of the lyrics on this album?

LK: There is more vocal improvisation on this album but it’s wordless. The vocal sounds are rhythmic, textural, melodic but they contain gestures or statements of consonants and vowels rather than concrete words. It’s so much fun to work with sound in this way.

RD: Which songs on this album mean most to you?

LK: Hmm can I say all of them? ;)) But if I had to choose, maybe Roots and Sky Thinking.

RD: This is the first time you’ll be performing Wait For Me to a live, in person audience – what are you most excited about? What can we expect?

LK: I can’t wait to share our new music with real people in a room. It’ll probably be a little overwhelming at first, but in a good way. I also can’t wait to perform with the band – there’ll be seven of us in total on stage; all the musicians are so wonderful. It’s an exciting feeling playing new music collectively and letting the music grow and develop in front of a live audience and we haven’t had this experience for a while. Aaaaaaa!

Snowpoet perform at Turner Sims on Saturday 5 June and copies of Wait For Me are available to pre-order and collect on the night of the event. Find out more and book your tickets here.

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