Yes, the world can be an unforgiving place. And yes, we often feel outpaced by both time and grace. But if there’s one thing we’re utterly convinced of, without a shadow of a doubt, it’s that good music will forever guide the way; cat’s eyes on the strange expressway that is waking life.
That thought crossed my mind back in June, when Caolán Austin released ‘Walking into the Furnace,’ the first track from his new solo project. After spending recent years getting his flowers as one of the island’s most in-demand producers at Smalltown America, the Derry artist is now proving his skill as a songwriter and multi-instrumentalist, too.
With ‘Walking into the Furnace,’ Austin’s composition feels both gossamer and beautifully defined—a deft, widescreen effort that blends afrobeat rhythms, mellotron keyboards, Prophet 5 synthesizers, and woodwind instruments to create one of the Irish tracks of the year. With nods to influences like Thom Yorke, Actress and Tony Allen, the song is masterfully elevated by the vocals of longtime TTA favourite Chris McConaghy (Our Krypton Son), making it an invitation set to unfold in the months ahead.
Five months after its release, we’re pleased to premiere the track’s sublime new video. For it, Austin teamed up with lifelong friend and internationally acclaimed photographer Megan Doherty to dream up a visual accompaniment that turns up the contrast on its phantasmal spell.
Drawing inspiration from nonlinear narrative films by Sofia Coppola and Wong Kar-wai, Doherty mines the essence of longing, the pull of searching for something bigger and the universal feeling of being at odds with one’s surroundings.
Speaking about the track, Austin said: “We both talked about Lost In Translation as a big influence for this project; the longing and quiet desperation that’s conveyed through the character’s body language, the colours and environment they used – all of it adds up to create a deeply resonate feeling with the viewer, even with a minimal use of dialogue.”
He added: “It was important that this film could convey something similar to the viewer while still allowing them to add their own interpretation and reflect their own lives onto the story. There’s simply no one better at creating that world than Megan so it was a very natural decision to team up with her on this project where she could create a whole other dimension to the track”.
Have a first look at the video below and follow Caolán Austin on Instagram.
