Today, we’re delighted to be able to premiere ‘Willie Woods’, the second single from Via: Barvikha‘s new EP, Chengdu.
The song sees songwriter Chris Leckey make some concessions about himself directly to an unknown listener (‘I moved away, or so I thought’), which take on a deeper profundity within the frame of the EP, written around a period of significant life change, namely songwriter Chris Leckey’s uprooting to a new home 5329 miles away – the titular Chengdu – and then coming back five months later. Channelling a brooding intensity never articulated as dynamically with his past hardcore outfit PigsAsPeople, Leckey has found a waypoint via common denominator Brand New to the darkly raw places of yearning, conjured by of Jason Molina and other quintessentially authentic Steve Albini-produced folk.
Chengdu is released through Belfast indie label Abbreviated Records on June 16, and was recorded & produced by the titular character of its first single, Chris Ryan.
Incidentally, each song is named after an accomplice – Belfast punk scene stalwart Willie Woods having designed its artwork – making us wonder what significance these names hold in the grander scheme of the release; “It hits you like moving to another part of the world and not finding what you were looking for“, its press statement reads. It isn’t wrong.
Via: Barvikha launches his Chengdu EP at McHugh’s Bar, Belfast on Saturday, June 17, with support from his former PigsAsPeople cohort’s new project Junk Drawer, fellow jaunty indie kids Hand Models and a solo acoustic set from Brash Isaac.
