At the end of January, Glasgow Indie folk band Snows of Yesteryear released their new single, Counting Stars. From the off, the song has a warm, almost DIY vibe, thanks to the song’s simple minimalist opening arrangement of accordion and relaxed acoustic strumming from David Mitchell, all of which allow the ethereal vocals of Kathryn Orr to make an instant impression. Her vocals really do shine, creating an ever more profound and lasting impression as the song progresses. Those arrangements soon develop with the addition of Yuuka Yamada-Garner’s dreamy violin, Mattie Foulds’s intuitive drums and Kevin McGuire‘s rhythmic bass, slowly building the emotional intensity before subsiding into a gentle finale and an eloquent repeated refrain of ‘counting stars’.
Foulds has done a fantastic job on the production, the music constantly enhancing the presence of Kathryn Orr’s vocals. We have the pleasure of premiering the accompanying video by Humble Film Production, whose filmic quality and autumnal colour grading enhance that Scottish feel of the song.
“Counting Stars, like any song, can mean different things to different people; for me, there’s a sense of anger in the face of loss that was key to the composition. We wanted to arrange the song to convey a growing sense of grief that becomes all consuming,” says Orr. “Without letting the focus of the song go, we wanted to find ways to weave together different instruments and vocals to create a powerful, unsentimental song that fully illuminates that feeling of loss.”
“Our influences include Scottish artists like Eddi Reader, particularly Angels and Electricity, which features the stunning song Bell, Book and Candle which I really connected with because of its similar thematic emphasis on loss. We’re also looking further afield to favourite artists worldwide, like the work that Owen Pallet has done to create the classic sound of Arcade Fire, or another band we’re always passionate about, First Aid Kit,” says Orr. “There is a sort of smouldering anger and heartache behind the song, the realisation and processing of what has been lost. It’s intended to be in the vein of Kate Bush’s This Woman’s Work, which is another favourite song of mine, and it would be great if we could capture even a fraction of that kind of emotion.”
Guitarist Mitchell says, “We were interested in how we could develop the song so the tension was always building, gradually layering up each new instrument that is introduced to reinforce the narrative and simplicity of the vocal lines.”
From a minimalistic and restrained opening on accordion, Counting Stars evolves dramatically with the staggered arrival of strings, piano and drums; Mitchell recalls, “We wanted to create a lush and layered sound. By the end there are countless string parts, and some synth sounds to try to create this sense of cosmic wonder.”
Snows of Yesteryear further explore the landscapes and emotional lore of Scotland in their forthcoming, eponymous debut album, recorded with Mattie Foulds (Karine Polwart, Eliza Carthy, Aidan O’Rourke, Kris Drever) at Castlesound Studios, scheduled for release in May 2023.
With such impressive early offerings like this, you will definitely want to keep this band on your radar.
Counting Stars is streaming on all major platforms now.
Website: https://www.snowsofyesteryear.scot