(Acoustic, Rock, Indie, Folk) Declan de Barra - Fragments, Footprints & the Forgotten - 2011, [WEB], FLAC (tracks) lossless

Fragments, footprints & the forgotten was recorded in the same room as the last two albums over the course of two weeks. This time there were no guests, everything you here on there is me playing or singing. I didn’t over analyse anything, most songs were recorded in one or two takes, I left most of the warts in. It is different to the other two, a progression I hope. I didn’t want to make exactly the same record, De Barra says. The next one will be different again I hope. I make these things to satisfy myself, and I am always honoured, surprised and very glad when people say they enjoy listening to them and come along to the shows. I know one day it will probably stop and people will move on, but I will continue to make music one way or the other. The artwork is based on old photos I had seen of immigrants to the States around 1916. I often use photos to feed ideas for songs, painting and scenes in scripts. It all seemed to make sense as the Irish economy tanked and started to choke on the fat of bankers. Once more young Irish men and women were leaving. When I listened back to the songs, Black Crow Call and A Storín etc. it all made sense. So the artwork is a narrative of an immigrant arriving in a strange country and it not going so well.
The diversity of his previous album “A fire to scare the suns” has been distilled into an even purer drop on this album. And it is de Barra’s voice that gives these songs an otherworldly quality and sets him apart from the pack. A beautiful dark intensity, sweetness and power with a connection hardwired to the soul. A unique voice for the hardest of times. This more focused sound could described as new breed of “indie folk noir”. A state of flux exists with “Fragments, footprints & the forgotten”, the music could sit happily in a pub in the west of Ireland, an indie club in New York, a cafe in Lebanon or a punk squat in Berlin.