Back in the Attica
An unmitigated disaster
Hiiiiii chickens! Pam here again.
We’re in Attica Studios with producer Tommy McLaughlin making album 4 and I’m just gonna give yous a little run down to how things are going.
This is where we made In Waiting and Leave the Light On. When we were babies. I think walking back in this week I expected to feel nostalgic and instead I just felt like it always did before, our little Donegal home. We know ourselves a little better now and maybe even our instruments (I’m talking out me hole).
It’s so beautiful here even though the weather has been aggressively grey. Proper fat rain at times. But there’s something about being tucked away up here that makes you go full tunnel vision which is where we excel.
Tommy is, as always, gently terrorising us into making better decisions. He quietly steers our ship on course while also throwing us into the depth of musical chaos. Quite fun all the same!
For the first few days we were joined by the glorious Lorcan Byrne who kindly agreed to drum on the record. He is an awfully talented boy. He even stayed a bit longer than expected because he likes us so soooo much :). If you don’t know his band Basciville please sort that out immediately.
Also. And this is crucial.
We have been joined by the most affectionate and needy dog in the entire world. Gizmo. He has no concept of personal space and I respect that deeply. He believes in us more than we believe in ourselves.
We haven’t really left the studio much. We’re better when we’re a bit locked in and slightly feral. But we have had hikes in Glenveagh National Park with the McLaughlin fam, visits to our beloved Coffee Time, and obviously there have been a trip or two to the pub for pool because we must protect our cultural heritage.
We’ve been taking turns cooking dinner every night which is actually very cute and domestic of us. I will be honest and say I’ve only cooked twice because I’m a bit of a frazzled cook. But both dishes went down a treat. My cooking style is essentially “how much chilli crisp is too much chilli crisp?” followed by “add butter and hope”. It’s working so far. Cathy and Sarah, however, are operating at a level that I can only dream of.
And the songs!
I don’t want to jinx anything but… they’re sounding really exciting. There’s a bit of chaos in them. A bit of bite. Some moments that have made us look at each other like “oh???” which is always a good sign. The creative juices have been flowing quite well. It feels alive and a little unhinged at times. Which is probably accurate for us at this stage.
And a little personal note, I was awoken a few nights ago by some horrific wailing. Had elements of howling, some screeching, some musicality to it tbf, and I am concerned it was the banshee. There was talk of it being cats having sex which I refuse to believe as that would mean it was the studio cat Wicky who I view as having an innocence about him. Anyway any suggestions would be welcome.
We can’t wait for you to hear it. That’s the long and short of it.
Right Gizmo is staring so I must attend to him.
Lots and lots of love,
Pamela xxx
If the screams sound pained it's cats at it!
Could indeed be foxes though they tend to yap and yip more so (betraying my country roots here!). Unless ofc they're doing the business which I've never heard (shrugs shoulders) :o)