#313
PORTS – The Devil is a Songbird
Wednesday 11th May, 2016
They Say: “When writing songs I mostly start off with an image in my head, and then create a story around that. The image I had for ‘The Devil is a Songbird’ was a woman trapped / caged in a dark candle-lit bricked room, a very old setting. Like a scene from a Béla Tarr or David Lynch film. After getting the bulk of the song lyrics together, I was messing about with mobile phones and discovered that if you put both on speakerphone it would feedback. It sounded eerily like birds tweeting when I whistled the melody through. This was perfectly fitting for a song called ‘The Devil is a Songbird’.” - Steven McCool.
We Say: “We are, of course, well familiar with PORTS and indeed this song by now; a track which is as impressive live as it is here. With this, the album version, the track takes another subtle and wonderful lift. The imagery is stark but the melody, production and those vocals are just glorious."
‘The Devil is a Songbird’ is the title track to PORTS’ debut album, which is out on May 27th. The bands’ live dates include:
May 26th – Flowerfield Arts Centre, Portstewart
May 27th – Black Box, Belfast
May 28th – The Glassworks, Derry~Londonderry
June 4th – Whelans, Dublin
July 15th – Railway Tavern, Fahan
As often as possible Across the Line aims to bring you a great new, recent or interesting track each day, Monday to Friday. To get your new music to Across the Line send it via theBBC Introducing Uploader.
