London-based, Irish singer-songwriter Aural Air releases her highly-anticipated EP ‘Imagined Pastures’. Known for her ethereal, eerie, and expansive guitar and vocal melodies Aural Air’s (Laura Rai) discography draws comparisons with musical heavyweights Jeff Buckley, Anna Calvi, and Slowdive.
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The 5-track offering sees Laura curate a collection of tracks that in her words is “a collection of songs surrounding themes of mixed identity and the poetic dialogue and nature of rural Ireland. The songs aim to depict the pervasive opposition of the Atlantic sea with internal forces both musically and lyrically.”
Aural Air has already released two singles from the EP ‘Painted by Numbers’ and ‘Karman Line’ which are marked by nostalgia for lost people and places across generations and lifetimes. The third single ‘Night by Night’ which drops ahead of the EP on the 17th of October deals with the debris of a past relationship in the face of future renewal that sticks with the artist’s growingly popular enigmatic, and haunting dream-folk musical style.
Speaking on the making of the track, Aural Air says: “The melody became an affirmation that circled around my mind on loop, in defiance of everything I wanted to move on from. It felt natural to layer it with heaps of delay and modulation on the guitar, this created a sense of movement and warping of reflections into something new”.
With an immersive sonic landscape, ‘Imagined Pastures’ is predominated by imaginative and distinct layers of electric guitar, mystical harmonies, and percussive textures. The EP was recorded by Darragh Nolan at Asta Kalapa and funded by the Government of Ireland stimulus fund, following the release of her debut EP ‘The Torpor of Minds’ in 2018, and notable performances at Electric Picnic, Stendhal Festival, The Workman’s Club, and The Grand Social. Having caught the attention of noteworthy press and radio throughout Ireland and the UK including RTE 2XM, RTE Entertainment and Music Crowns, Aural Air looks poised to bring her intimate writing style to audiences worldwide.