MacD on Music: Depressing nostalgia

Last year, Lord Jane burst onto the scene with their brilliant debut EP ‘Tulips’. The group, made up of Aiden Reynolds (guitar), Carl Small (bass), Dylan Norton (drums), Sam Foote (other guitar) and Clodagh May (vocals), have been building a name for themselves since then on the gig circuit, including a stop in Nacional De Cuba last October, and are now about to release their new single ‘Kaleidoscopes’ this Wednesday (30th April).

I caught up with Clodagh May recently to talk about the new song: “The new single is the first song that we have written since releasing the EP. It’s actually the first song we’ve written all together in the room, which is mental. It’s about, you know when you’re a child and everything is so colourful and you see the world through these rainbow coloured glasses?

"The lyrics came about quite naturally. We had a conversation before band practice about the political climate and Palestine and Israel and everything that’s going on, basically, and how shite the world is. Then we got into the room and they started playing a little bit of what we’d started writing in the weeks leading up to that, and it doesn’t normally happen like this. Normally we’ll write the music first and I’ll sit and write the lyrics on the way home on the bus.

"For some reason, I think just based on that conversation, it just flowed out of us all at once, in the space of a couple of hours.”

READ MORE: MacD on Music

“It’s basically about how, when you’re a child, you hear that Santa isn’t real or you scraped your knee and that has been the worst day in weeks, if you’re privileged enough to have a childhood like that. Then, as you get older, you realise that life is crazy and the world is not that simple, and it kind of slaps you up the face a bit.

"I suppose it’s not having the control to change these things and having to sit back and watch, usually, horrible, white men make decisions for us and having no voice in it. That’s what it’s about, nostalgia but in a really depressing way. I don’t know if nostalgia is the right word. I think it’s too pretty of a word. I think it’s more growing up and wishing you could go back and put on those kaleidoscope glasses and finding out that Santa isn’t real is the worst thing.”

Talking about playing the song live, Clodagh says “At the EP launch in September in the Ulster Sports Club, we played it and, because I’ve got a big mouth, I announced that this was the next single, even though we hadn’t planned it was the next single yet, but lo and behold, it is the next one. It’s just nine months later. It’s the set closer at the minute. I think it’s our favourite song, the five of us, to date.”

Finally, I asked Clodagh about any other artists we should be checking out: “There’s loads of up-and-coming bands that are great. There’s a band called Klyda. They are amazing! They’ve been going quite a while. A band called PTRNS [pronounced ‘Patterns’], they’re great, and they’re very supportive of us. There’s Penny’s Band. They opened for us at our EP launch. Charlie Hanlon, he’s class. Monday’s Child, as well. The Thing Is, they’re absolutely amazing.”

And that’s it from Clodagh May. Lord Jane’s new single ‘Kaleidoscopes’ is out this Wednesday on all good streaming platforms with the video released the same day.

Now, onto other business. This Saturday (3rd May), Sister Ghost will be playing a stripped back, acoustic gig celebrating the legacy of the legendary MTV Unplugged as part of Belfast’s Cathedral Quarter Arts Festival in the Ulster Sports Club. The gig will feature Shannon of Sister Ghost playing an intimate set of unplugged songs from her recent debut album ‘Beyond The Water’.

Speaking of the gig, Shannon says: “I’ve always wanted to host a celebration show like this. I’ve booked two amazing special guests Monday’s Child and Anja Di Roma to perform as well and donations on the night will be taken for Girls Rock School NI, the grassroots music project that helps mentor the next generation of female and gender expansive youth to play in our music scene.”

Tickets are available at the box office for £10-£15.

Also, next Monday (5th May), Paul Casey will be presenting Rea-magined in the Millennium Forum. The show is Paul’s tribute to the legendary Chris Rea, who he has collaborated with extensively in the past, and “is set to honour Rea’s musical legacy in a way that perhaps could only come about on the back of the decades-long relationship” between the two.

Tickets are £29.50 and are available via the Millennium Forum.

Finally, time for the socials. Paul Casey can be found on Facebook and Instagram @paulcaseymusic, Sister Ghost @sisterghostofficial and Lord Jane @lordjanemusic.