Robert Dwyer Joyce was a poet and collector of Irish traditional music. Of his own works, the most well known is probably The Wind That Shakes the Barley. In his poem, the barley standing tall amidst the breeze was meant to symbolise the resilience of Irish people amidst oppressive British rule.
A bullet pierced my true love’s side
In life’s young spring so early
And on my breast in blood she died
While soft winds shook the barley
In 2006, the song title and its theme served as the inspiration for a powerful and heart-breaking film starring Cillian Murphy. Now, in 2021, Ireland-based singer-songwriter Peter Broderick pays homage once again, weaving this motif into his latest EP, The Wind That Shakes The Bramble.
Following on from his 2020 album, Blackberry, Broderick shares some additional work from the same sessions, as well as a beautiful two-part rework from Bing & Ruth (4AD) and the new 22-minute title track (listen below); an expansive and meditative ambient odyssey, a balm for the baffling chaos of the current era.
Close to where I live is a young woodland (it was planted around 13 years ago). I walk there every day and always notice how it’s around the blackberry (bramble), that I see the most wildlife activity (and foraging). As well as affording protection to small mammals such as dormice and nesting birds, it’s a vital food source for birds and other wildlife. Blackberry is a resilient plant and is one that has become something of an obsession for Peter Broderick. As well as being the title of his 2020 album, last year, he also shared an eight-part video series titled The Blackberry Diaries (watch below) in which he demonstrated all the different uses of this incredible, ubiquitous plant – everything from blackberry jam to weaving baskets and hats with the bramble vines, from making tea of out the young leaves to making artwork with late-season berries past their prime.
He draws attention to the fact that the blackberry plant itself is an incredible symbol of resilience. “It weaves itself all through our countryside, playing an important role in holding the soil together, and also makes its way into our cities, proliferating even in such hyper urban environments as London. And while most modern people have lost the ability to identify the wild plants growing around us, the Blackberry remains a commonly foraged plant all around the globe. It’s as if the more domesticated we become and the more our technology separates us from the natural world, the Blackberry finds its way into the hearts and minds of us humans, reminding us where we come from.”
The Wind That Shakes The Bramble will be out September 10 on Erased Tapes, ahead of Peter’s Blackberry UK Tour 2021 for which tickets are available here.
Pre-Order the EP: https://idol.lnk.to/WindShakesBramble
Photo Credit: Aoife Light