Under Starling On the Making Of ‘Murmurations’
Can you talk about any specific themes or motifs that run throughout 'Murmurations?'
Strong themes of Irish history and Celtic mythology run throughout the whole album, with references to fairy trees, changelings, selkies, the Magdalene Laundries, and the Great Irish Famine. This is also expressed through small snippets of audio recordings taken from interviews with the older generation, who talk about their experiences of Irish folklore.
How do you feel this album represents your artistic identity?
Over the years we’ve released lots of singles, and EPs that all had diverse genres and styles. We feel this album is the first body of work that fully represents who we are. We’ve designed the album to replicate the feeling of our live shows and the listening experience from start to finish will demonstrate that.
Can you talk about any standout tracks on the album and what makes them special to you?
A stand-out track for us would be the title track, “Murmurations.” This is the first time we have collaborated with a poet to create something different. We approached our friend Gally with the idea of writing a poem based loosely on the theme of the album. We gave him a short snippet of audio and a brief description of the album concept and then let him have full creative reign over the writing.
What he came back with blew us away and we couldn’t be happier to have this beautiful piece centred in our album.
Can you tell us more about you as a band?
We’ve been playing together as Under Starling since late 2018 when we threw ourselves into the industry with our first track, Far Be It From Me. From there we’ve gone on to release a handful of more singles, and an EP, alongside playing some great headliner gigs across Ireland with the occasional venture to the UK. Being able to showcase the music we create together is something we all love and being able to share it with the world is an amazing experience.
How do you engage with your audience during your live performances to create a memorable experience for them?
Our live shows are very dynamic. We tend to open the set with a more ambient mix of indie/alt-pop songs and then gradually progress to our heavier music by the end of the show. Throughout the years we’ve always had a strong engagement with the crowd getting them to sing along and mosh with us, however, for this album, we will be taking a back seat and letting the music guide the audience. Like a murmuration, there is no focus area, we are one with the audience sharing our music with them.