International Shoegaze/Post-Rock trio healthyliving featuring members of Maud The Moth, Falloch and Ashenspire stream their debut album “Songs Of Abundance, Psalms Of Grief,” which was just released this Friday, April 7, 2023 by the band and La Rubia Producciones. Stream the whole album through the YouTube player below:
Doomy Noise/Post-Rock trio healthyliving’s debut album “Songs Of Abundance, Psalms Of Grief,” is out this Friday (7 April). Funded by Creative Scotland, the album has been co-released by the band and La Rubia Producciones. The group will make their live debut at the prestigious Roadburn Festival in Tilburg on 22 April.
The transnational collective, across Scotland, Spain, and Germany, consists of long-time collaborators and friends Amaya López-Carromero (Maud the moth), Scott McLean (Falloch, Ashenspire), and Stefan Pötzsch.
Of the album, healthyliving says: “Making this album has healed many things. It has been a lesson of acceptance, intuition, and regaining trust. Finally, the day to share it with the world has come. Quit that job you hate, run into the wilderness, stop trying to fit in, embrace the ugly, the weird and that which flows naturally when you have finally failed enough.”
Artistically, the band draws on the beauty and horror of the banal to create a kaleidoscopic and evocative musical world that transcends the boundaries of any musical genre into which they might be pigeonholed. The album, “Songs of Abundance, Psalms of Grief encompasses” “everyday, mundane emotions that are seemingly unrelated” but which together build and represent that common ground that, as human beings, we all share. Indeed, the band themselves describe their music as the soundtrack needed to “digest our humanity,” accepting the hopes and fears that are common to us all.
The nocturnal haze that they weave with their infinite layers of guitars and that slides like a gigantic wave, immerses healthyliving, with its hypnotic sound, in something primal and fascinating. Amaya’s haunting and at times cosmic vocals crest the storm, leaving the listener to find vulnerability and pure human emotion in her often turbulent vocal turns, transcending any conventionality.
Vocalist Amaya explains: “For me, the magic of musical composition lies in its ability to create worlds beyond reality in which both performers and listeners can explore and process thoughts. It’s like taking a kind of micro-vacation away from everyday life or entering a thrilling state of meditation. We want to be able to share this experience with all those who listen to the album.”
healthyliving live up to that natural connection; something that is reflected in the simplicity, rawness and immediacy of their approach to songwriting. “When an idea was inspiring, we had to write and finish the whole song and its structure in the same session,” says Scott, the guitarist and producer: “Reworking it later or changing it was not an option. This is testament to the band’s belief in their own instinct, obviating any pre-established planning.”
Stefan confirms: “I like things to be quite direct and intuitive despite the distance between us.“
Amaya continues: “All the lyrics were written by free associating the music with memories or emotions that came into my head like in dreams.” He continues: “I titled To The Gallows to sum up that main, oppressive feeling that the whole song has; being trapped in a cycle of abuse, feedback and seamlessness that repeats itself over and over again, very Sisyphean. However, To The Fields contains quite the opposite energy that invokes growth, vulnerability and hope.”
The Scottish community from which the band primarily operates (and where Scott and Amaya continue to reside) is clearly of paramount importance to them. All three members of healthyliving appear in other Scottish musical projects: Ashenspire, Falloch, Maud the Moth and All Men Unto Me. “The community has taken a long time to form and it’s amazing that there’s so much going on around it now,” says Scott. “The best thing is being able to create such a variety of music together with very close friends. Almost every day there is something going on related to our little community of musicians, which is really amazing and exciting.“
Amaya adds: “Feeling part of a community of artists is absolutely crucial to surviving in the long run and having any chance of thriving as an independent artist. When I was living in Madrid, I was going to a lot of local gigs, feeling like an important part of the scene there, even though there weren’t many opportunities in terms of our international activity or in terms of funding. It was a bit disheartening to have to start from scratch when I moved to the UK. Although I kept in touch with all my friends in Spain, it took me a long time to find my place here again and to connect with the right people with whom to have a common vision.“
Stefan adds: “You can’t forget the connection I feel as a friend and musician with Amaya and Scott.” He adds this response from his home in Germany: “It’s something that comes naturally to me, effortlessly and is highly rewarding.“
Amaya concludes: “I love connecting people and collaborating with other people, so I hope to build something between our countries; a mega-scene that is defined by common interests and motivations rather than geographic location.“
Purchase the album on Bandcamp: https://healthylivingband.bandcamp.com/album/songs-of-abundance-psalms-of-grief
Tracklist:
01. Until
02. Dream Hive
03. Galleries
04. To The Fields
05. To The Gallows
06. Bloom
07. Back To Back
08. Ghost Limbs
09. Obey
Lineup:
Amaya Lόpez-Carromero / Vocals
Scott McLean / Guitar, Bass, Synth
Stefan Pötzsch / Drums