Arborist, the musical project of Belfast native Mark McCambridge, has announced his fourth album ‘Looking For Love‘. It is his first self-produced release and is out on October 16th, via Fika Recordings.
Accompanying the album announcement is his new single and video The Taming of Horses. The song was written back in 2022 during late nights spent watching Jacob Bronowski’s The Ascent of Man, the landmark 1970s documentary about humanity’s cultural and scientific development.
“Just sensational television that we can show to Extraterrestrials when they come, to get them up to speed.”
Mark Cambridge
The latest single follows the spare title track we shared in April, Looking 4 Love. In contrast, The Taming of Horses, with it’s lush Hammond organ has a more sophisticated feel, though the thematic territory is darker, a reflection on humanity’s habit of repeating its worst mistakes. The scientific theme that inspired the track carries over into the video directed once again by Tristan Crowe through footage taken from the Prelinger and Nasa archives.
While largely self-produced from his home studio in Belfast, Cambridge calls upon some old friends, including Cameron Ralston (Bonnie Light Horseman, Hiss Golden Messenger) on bass and Eamon Ferris (The Waterboys) on drums. Ben McAuley (Van Morrison) engineered; Jimmy Robertson (Anna Calvi, Beth Gibbons, Fat Dog) mixed.
The album has been described as staggering, devastating and uplifting in equal measure, calling to mind albums such as Songs Ohia’s Magnolia Electric Co., not the kind of comparison you would make lightly. Maybe Cambridge’s lone moments and “feeling genuinely lost in it all” are the price you pay to dig deeper into order reach higher.
Tour dates
15th October: The Harrison, Belfast
25-27th October: Boia Festival, St.David’s, Wales
5th November: Cleere’s, Kilkenny, Ireland
6th November: Phil Grimes, Waterford, Ireland
12th Nov: The Cove, Hastings, England
15th Nov: The Waiting Room, London, England
17th Nov: Folklore Rooms, Brighton, England
19th Nov: The Empire, Belfast, Ireland
20th Nov: Yarn, Ballycastle, Ireland
22nd Nov: The Savoy, Cork, Ireland
26th Nov: Monroe’s, Galway, Ireland