Eleanor Rudge and Oliver Catt have been circling in one another’s orbits for a number of years, though they’ve been more recently separated by 300 miles of British countryside. Through their tenures in various bands — including Fantasy Rainbow, Tyrannosaurus Dead, and The Hundredth Anniversary — they found themselves singing on each other’s records but never really maintained a consistent connection outside of music. After a period of musical silence from both of them, Rudge reached out to Catt, and they reconnected in a cottage near Black Hill on the Scottish border. Bathed in the warmth of a small stove and fueled by a carload of groceries, they spent the next four days writing together and developing the identity of what would become Orpine.
Grown, Ungrown was the result of this intense bout of collaboration, a collection of songs that found them digging into the murky depths of love, ache and the memories of undefinable experiences. Produced by Jonathan Coddington (The Magic Gang, Joanna Gruesome), the record sees release on May 15 via Heist or Hit. Doused in roughhewn folk narratives and flashes of orchestral nuance, it’s built upon raw emotional honesty and the considerable creativities of two artists whose worlds have finally aligned.
On their latest single, “Migrating Geese Overhead”, the band offers up a clanging, cyclical groove that feels as if it’s about to fall to pieces at any given moment. It’s so creaky and roughly cobbled together that you’re not even sure if they’re going to make it all the way to the end of the song. Guitars are roughly strummed while voices collide and slowly drift apart. There’s an odd droning quality to the track – one that gives way around the three-minute mark to an immersive wash of lo-fi harmonies and ramshackle loveliness. An odd hymnal grace adorns the borders of the music, rising until it crashes across your senses, solemn yet aching for connection.
“’Migrating Geese Overhead’ is about the fear of settling and the places your mind goes when you’re struggling with comfort,” Catt explains. “Being in love is an all-consuming thing that allows fear and doubt to operate untethered. It’s a song about yearning for diversion from a narrow path and all of the consequences that come with taking that decision.”
Pre-save the album here.
