Interviews
Off the Shelf with MorganEve Swain (The Huntress and Holder of Hands, Brown Bird, Devil Makes Three)
Our latest Off the Shelf guest is MorganEve Swain of The Huntress and Holder of Hands. Ahead of “Babylon,” out June 5th, she talks us through ten objects from LadyBird Cottage: a growing collection of hands, a javelina skull, moon phase prints, anvil rings, and a recording box, each carrying a story, and often touching on love and loss.
Colleen — French composer Cécile Schott — talks to Harper Mahood about Libres antes del final, her new Thrill Jockey album written and recorded on a Moog Matriarch. With water flowing through it like an undercurrent, Schott reflects on overcoming a 30-year fear of swimming, the DIY life she’s built, and the loss of her father two days before release.
Abigail Lapell, whose new album “Shadow Child” is out now, selects ten meaningful objects from her home for KLOF’s Off the Shelf series. Her picks span a wooden dala horse picked up in Stockholm while touring with baby Charlie, sand timers that help with focus, marionettes from a favourite music video, and the hood ornament of a beloved camper van.
The Dublin-based duo Lemoncello, Laura Quirke and Claire Kinsella, open up their homes and pick ten objects — a borrowed fiddle, a hand-painted notebook from Mexico, a wood-carved swan, a Simpsons fridge sticker — that tell small stories of places returned to, gifts received, and the things that sustain a creative life between records.
Natalie Wildgoose is our latest Off the Shelf guest, selecting ten objects from the two homes she splits her life between — London and North Yorkshire. From a childhood pillow to her grandad’s reel-to-reel tape machine, each item opens a window into the world behind her forthcoming EP Rural Hours, due April 15th via state51.
Spencer Cullum opens the door to his Nashville garden shed for the latest Off the Shelf — the makeshift studio where Coin Collection 3 came to life. The final chapter of his trilogy finds the British pedal steel player turning to English folklore for solace amid the noise of the modern world. His ten objects tell the story.
In this special feature, Georgia Shackleton tells the story behind “From the Floorboards” — an album marking 125 years since the launch of the Discovery, when her distant cousin, Sir Ernest Shackleton, set sail aboard her with Captain Robert Falcon Scott. Shaped by a violin crafted from the floorboards of Shackleton’s Edinburgh home, she traces the threads between Antarctic exploration, environmental reflection, and more.
In conversation with Harper Mahood, Barry Walker Jr. talks about “Paleo Sol,” his Thrill Jockey debut — a record born from new age lullabies, ancient oxidised soils, and dark forces banging on the door. “I want people to look past the horizon and try to break the material veil that we’re all living in.”
Our latest Off the Shelf guest is Sam Amidon. In this series, we ask an artist to select ten items from their home, photograph and talk about them; a form of storytelling through objects. Sam, along with Finnish violinist Pekka Kuusisto and the Norwegian Chamber Orchestra, will launch their new album Willows at Kings Place on 24th February–an 80-minute concert of remembrance and renewal.
Ahead of her ambitious new album Next Of Kin, acclaimed songwriter Dani Larkin joins us for our latest “Off the Shelf” feature. Moving from the sweeping orchestral landscapes of her music to the intimate corners of her home, Larkin shares ten personal objects—from a vintage film-set lamp to a hand-carved stool—read the stories behind her choices.
Read our in-depth interview with Grammy-winning producer Ian Brennan on his new album, West Virginia Snake Handler Revival “They Shall Take Up Serpents”. This raw, live recording from Appalachia’s last snake-handling church captures a service Brennan calls “the most metal thing” he’s ever seen. Out now on Sublime Frequencies.