‘Buthaigir/Puffin’ by Garefowl.

Garefowl are an international collective of musicians connected to the archipelago of St Kilda, Scotland, combining strings and electronics. Their second album Things That Vanish, released on 2 October on AD 93, was recorded on Hirta, the main island of St Kilda, at night. The soundscapes of Hirta breathe across the record: a quiet rolling swell of winds, waves, birds, and the otherworldly thrum of the snipe.

Taking influence from the traditional folk music of St Kilda, the tunes on the record are inspired by the threatened seabirds of the islands (Puffin, Guillemot, Storm Petrel, Cormorant, Shearwater, Kittiwake, Gannet, Bonxie, and Fulmar). The band were intrigued by the folk stories around these birds, and how they often are depicted to imbue a primal, dark and haunting nature. In such tales, the birds retain a quality akin to a sea monster: preying upon calves and sheep, and believed to be the pelagic souls of drowned sailors or the cursed spirits of cruel captains.

Listen to / buy the record in its entirety here via Bandcamp.