John Francis Flynn shares new single & video ‘Willie Crotty’

614

We recently shared the news of John Francis Flynn‘s new album Look Over The Wall, See The Sky, which was accompanied by his first single and video ‘Mole In The Ground‘. Today, he shared his new single ‘Willie Crotty’ and its video, directed by Ruth Clinton and Cormac Dermody (from Lankum).

This eerie rendition of ‘Willy Crotty’ was recorded in a bedroom in Leitrim using the unlikely combination of a clarinet, a handheld radio, a Casio SK1, a harmonica and an effects pedal. Where we might hear horror or feel terror, John explains that these sonic provocations are his guttural language and are always aiding the emotional leverage of the song, in a way that traditional instruments can’t. As for the song’s protagonists, “these are the sounds of their lives are being torn apart.”

Willie Crotty (Crotty the robber) was a Waterford outlaw who lived in the 18th century, described as a Robin Hood type, stealing from the rich to give to the poor. His knowledge of the Comeragh Mountains made him difficult to catch, although he would eventually be betrayed by his own. He was sentenced to death and hung at Waterford jail in 1742, where his head was apparently removed and placed on a spike as a warning to other highwaymen.

His ghost is said the roam the Comeragh Mountains.

On his last record, I Would Not Live Always, John was much more conscious of bringing acoustic instruments and weird synthesised sounds together as a concept. But now, with his unique musical language fully formed, “I feel freer within that language to experiment and take it further without it being too conscious or premeditated”. 

Look Over The Wall, See The Sky is an album concerned with imagination, not only with what John calls “an imagined Ireland,” but also the re-imagining of traditional Irish music and the hopeful fantasy of an Ireland that could exist ‘over the wall’: powerful, hopeful and free.

Look Over The Wall, See The Sky will be released via River Lea Recordings on November 10^th 2023.

Album Tracklisting:

1. The Zoological Gardens
2. Mole In The Ground
3. Willie Crotty
4. Kitty
5. The Seasons
6. Within A Mile Of Dublin
7. The Lag Song
8. Dirty Old Town

Pre-Order Look Over The Wall, See The Sky: https://johnfrancisflynn.ffm.to/lotwsts

Forthcoming Tour Dates

tickets on sale Friday, Sept 15^th

 Fri, Dec 1^st – Set Theatre, Kilkenny

Sat, Dec 2^nd – Vicar St, Dublin

Fri, Dec 8^th – Roisin Dubh, Galway

Sat, Dec 9^th – St Luke’s, Cork

Sun, Dec 10^th – De Barras, Clonakilty

Thurs, Dec 14^th – Dolan’s Warehouse, Limerick

Fri, Jan 12^th – Out To Lunch Festival, Ulster Sports Club, Belfast

Fri, Jan 19^th – Brudenell, Leeds

Sat, Jan 20^th – Celtic Connections, Drygate, Glasgow

Sun, Jan 21^st – The Caves, Edinburgh

Tues, Jan 23^rd – The Exchange, North Shields

Wed, Jan 24^th – YES. Manchester

Thurs, Jan 25^th – Hare and Hounds, Birmingham

Fri, Jan 26^th – Clwb Ifor Bach, Cardiff

Sat, Jan 27^th – The Exchange, Bristol

Tues, Jan 30^th – Concorde 2, Brighton

Wed, Jan 31^st – The Dome, London

Thu, Feb 22^nd – Theatre Royal, Waterford

John Francis Flynn: I Would Not Live Always