mary in the junkyard announce their debut album, ‘Role Model Hermit’, with the release of its first single, ‘Crash Landing’ out on AMF Records.
mary in the junkyard have been patient – if patience is not understood as inaction and inertia, but the combination of arduous labour and waiting for the moment – in releasing their first longer body of work. As opposed to their initiation being a record, they have put out a smattering of releases, singles here, an EP there, honing their skills and sound on the live stage, giving us at home just a few songs to latch onto when we cannot see them play in the flesh. Constructing their captivating world for us to temporarily inhabit – soon we will be able to burrow down and live in it. A world of dreams and myths, where fact and fiction are intertwined, and the periphery of our reality becomes slippery, slowly first and then with a crash we drift off into the phantasmagorical.
That sensation of surreality is where we find mary in the junkyard with ‘Crash Landing’, a song that redefines the scope and ambition of the trio. Speaking on the single, Clari Freeman-Taylor said, “Crash Landing was written when we fell in love with the warm low drones of the harmonium. At the time we were listening a lot to Life Without Buildings on tour, so I think I was channelling some chirpy scatty poetry when we were jamming. This one is really joyful for me, it is all about change and growth.”
The song is a ballad tracing the end and subsequent effects of a previous relationship and “the fragility of two people who are cracking under the strain”. The lyrics read, “you opened up, you opened up like a coconut”, reflecting the processes of emerging out of grief and loss – never binary but rather layered. These layers litter the melody which also resemble the affect of the content with Saya Barbaglia and David Addison provide opulent string arrangements and a trip-hop groove. The track is accompanied by a beautiful music video by Maisy Banks and Jacob Ray, featuring my personal favourite of all natural phenomena – the murmuration. As birds glide through the cloudless sky, we are transported into the void which reflects the unmooring experience that is the loss of love. ‘Crash Landing’ is an introduction, a welcoming into what comes next for mary in the junkyard, and when it comes I for one shall walk through the door when it opens.
Photo by Daisy & Tomos Ayscough
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