Whenyoung's 'The Prayer' Is Right For These Times
Clash has a lockdown Q&A with the Irish band...
“Go to sleep, wake up in a new world,” begins *Whenyoung’s* dreamy new single ‘The Prayer.’ Camped out in Ramsgate where the Irish trio is social distancing, the group whipped up a lullaby-like tune to ease these anxious days.
Pairing with the track, the band shared a self-directed music video for the song, along with a special limited edition tee-shirt, whose proceeds going to Women’s Aid U.K. and Ireland.
The track is more airy and acoustic-leaning than the songs from last year’s debut album, ‘Reasons To Dream,’ losing the synth-pop beats in exchange for stripped-back vocals and piano tracks. The song is divine, with gritty, raw sounds from the at-home recording studio. The ethereal vocals are like a warm cuppa, soothing and angelic, whole the piano riff is breezy, with light chords guiding the melody. With proceeds going to a good cause, there’s nothing to dislike about this.
In conversation with Clash, Whenyoung’s trio, singer and bassist Aoife Power, guitarist Niall Burns, and drummer Andrew Flood, discussed filming the music video at home, raising funds for Women’s Aid, recording their sophomore album whilst in lockdown, and how they’re spending their time on the South Coast.
- - -
- - -
*So how did you come up with ‘The Prayer?’ *
*Aoife: *So we wrote this song, it must be three weeks ago now? When the UK first went into lockdown. It just kind of poured out, 'cause of what we were reading on the news and hearing from home in Ireland, their lockdown had started a couple of weeks earlier. Just hearing what was happening and just all the anxieties and the fears and the sadness, we just wanted to write something meditative to kind of give the world a virtual hug through this song.
*So if you wrote the song only three weeks ago, what was the songwriting process and how did you record it so quickly? *
*Aoife:* It started with the piano riff and we kind of started from there. I think it probably took us about two days to write, to finish. Andrew recorded it here, at home, and we have been working with a producer called Gethin Pearson in Wales. We sent it to him and he mixed it and co-produced with Andrew. It was our first time working on a track on the production side ourselves. So that was new, that was an exciting thing to do, to see that we could do that.
*Andrew:* In our budget studio.
*Was it challenging to record it yourselves? *
*Andrew: *No, it was fun, actually.
*Aoife:* It kind of was liberating.
*Andrew: *Like Aoife said, it kind of just poured out and we demoed it initially and sent it to our manager and we were like, 'We'd like to give this a go.' So we went back and kind of finessed a few bits and recorded a decent vocal take. And it was pretty easy and fun. And then for the mixing, we just kind of sent bits back and forth with our guy in Wales to get it mixed and stuff. It was actually done surprisingly quickly.
*Aoife:* It was kind of good for us to see that we could do that and just experience that progress and also, to have our label and our team like it. So the song is a lot lighter and softer than your songs off 'Reason To Dream.'
*How did you go about writing and recording the song, besides beginning with the piano riff?*
*Aoife: *Well, the way we have been writing recently, we started writing our second album late last year and we were writing in the west of Ireland. We kind of felt just out of the way started writing. We didn't have all the equipment that we usually would have. In our studio, we just had an acoustic guitar, electric guitar, and laptop. We had been writing with electronic drums and different synths and stuff. So that's kind of influenced how we were writing... Although it's quite different from what we have been writing from the start of the year, it was the same kind of process.
*Andrew: *This one kind of felt like a stand-alone track, in that it came out so quickly and it felt so heavily influenced by the current situation we're in. I don't know, it was very organic and it seemed to just create itself, really. Aoife: We really like layering vocal textures as well. I'm singing a melody but kind of just whispering and shushing in the background. Almost like a lullaby would be. We didn't want to put too much on [it].
*Is there a certain feeling or message that you want listeners to take away? *
*Aoife:* Love, really. I think we're sending people love... There's such a feeling of global sadness, but there's also more empathy than ever. People, I think, are being kinder and we just kind of wanted to put that down in words and in the song, this kind of feeling of empathy and love.
*So then going off that, how did you come up with the concept for the video? *
*Aoife: *Right now we're based in Ramsgate and we're very lucky to have a really nice view of the sea from where we're living. So Andrew set up his phone at different hours of the night.
*Andrew:* The idea was to try and capture a moment from every viewpoint in the flat and to try - even though we're technically in lockdown in this flat - to try and realize that there is beauty. And there's still so much movement and texture and light that you can see from inside. I was waking up to capture sunrises and trying to capture sunsets and just you can see from the footage that was recorded the space of a few days, there are so many different things happening - the interactions with even just wildlife and the clouds and lights and sun and everything.
*Aoife:* We're aware that we're in a very privileged position to be able to have a nice view right now, and not everyone has that. And we didn't until a few months ago when we moved here. There was a poem that I was reading recently as well, [by] Patrick Kavanaugh, called 'My room' and he's talking about his tiny little bedroom, but there's a window in the ceiling. He's describing how basic is his room is, and he uses his bed as a desk, and kitchen table, and everything. But the little window left in the stars. I think that really is a symbol of hope. The sky in the video is hope, really, even if you can't see it, it's out there.
*Your video definitely has elements of hope. Why do you think it was important to create a music video during lockdown?*
*Andrew:* I think it felt important to give the track some visual elements to try and convey the feeling of the track visually, I guess. Like Aoife was saying, there seems to be some importance at the moment, looking up to the sky, for hope, and realizing that we all share the same one.
*Aoife:* Having the time to be able to create as well, nothing was holding us back from making, spending time capturing. Like getting up early in the morning. Usually, you might not want to get up at 4:00 AM to set up your timer if you're going off somewhere else. But we had the time to make this video. We wanted to create something beautiful to go along with the song.
*How did you film and edit it? Did you use your phones?*
*Andrew:* It was all filmed on phones, and then we just edited on Premiere Pro, just on my laptop.
*How long did the process take? *
*Andrew:* It was about a week. It took an entire week just to try and get enough different kinds of cloud formations and different sunsets and sunrises and different movements. It just took a while to get that.
*Why did you choose to have your proceeds go to a Women's Aid UK and Ireland? *
*Aoife:* We wanted to support a charity that was working in Ireland too, because that's our home, and we just wanted to be inclusive with that. They're doing such an amazing job and right now there seems to be an overwhelming amount of people suffering from domestic abuse and violence. There's been an increase in calls to emergency lines and calls for health for women and children. It just seemed really good to support.
*You sound like you've been very busy during lockdown. Do you feel pressured to be creative and constantly producing new music? *
*Aoife:* This song kind of evolved without the usual pressure. We were kind of shocked that our label was allowing us to release it and stuff, before an album campaign. Usually, there's such a schedule in place and we were kind of breaking that. It wasn't something we wanted to do to monetize ourselves. It was more just for love and purely artistic. In terms of creating and writing, we're trying to keep busy for our own sanity and obviously we want to keep productive, but it's not always easy, like everyone is finding right now. So we're just taking it easy. If we don't want to do that some days, we're not. And we're watching films and I don't know, we're doing something silly. I don't really feel the pressure.
*When you are writing new music, where are you finding inspiration from? *
*Aoife: *At the beginning of this year and the end of touring, we've had time off for the first time in years. We've been in this lovely position to purely just be writing. And I think we've gone through a resting period, too. And it feels like we've been through a lot of healing. We've had a complicated few years - lots of good things happen, but there were lots of things, personal things that everyone goes through - and just having some time off, [we] felt like we could process some stuff. There's such a transition and a lot of the music is written about the healing process that has occurred. So far, anyway. We've recorded a handful of songs and the next song, who knows what they'll be like. Maybe Coronavirus.
*So then do you think isolation and quarantine will be themes in your sophomore album? *
*Andrew:* I guess they will be, whether we like it or not. But hopefully, we'll have more isolation and quarantine to fuel creativity.
*Aoife:* But it's funny because the whole isolation thing, I think already from the beginning of the year, obviously this is in forced isolation, which is very different. Before we were doing it ourselves. We had gone to a remote part of Ireland, it was just the three of us, really. And then we went to Wales and there was only six of us there. So from the beginning of this year, we haven't done much socializing.
*Andrew:* We've been writing and recording in isolation all year.
*Aoife:* Parts of it are appealing, but it's just the sadness that goes along with it. The suffering and the bit of not being able to travel and meet people. Isolation has influenced the writing already, but this type of isolation might influence what we're writing in the future. You mentioned that you're currently in Ramsgate.
*Was it always your plan to record there or was that a last-minute change? *
*Aoife:* Me and Andrew moved down here at the beginning of March just to have cheaper rent and be by the sea. We had already planned to be here before; we had already planned to move house, but then Niall came down. *Niall:* We had started recording our album in Wales, so that's where we are planning to do the rest of the album.
*Lastly, are there any new challenges that you're facing as musicians in these unprecedented times?*
*Andrew:* I suppose, practically looking into the future and touring and stuff, we have no idea what that will return to normal. It doesn't feel like any point in organizing anything for any time... I think live music, more than anything, more than any kind of activity or whatever, is the one that's going to be most difficult. You need people in the room. That's a challenge that we definitely haven't faced before.
It's kind of scary for the future. You just kind of have to take it, take it as it comes at the moment, and just hope all things will work out.
- - -
Words: *Caroline Edwards*
Join us on the ad-free creative social network Vero, as we get under the skin of global cultural happenings. Follow Clash Magazine as we skip merrily between clubs, concerts, interviews and photo shoots. Get backstage sneak peeks, exclusive content and access to Clash Live events and a true view into our world as the fun and games unfold.
Buy Clash Magazine
