Maria Somerville draws on folk forms alongside traditional Irish motifs, starry eyed pop, and hypnotic drones to create wholly original music that is borne of her roots in the West of Ireland. She shared her second album and debut project on 4AD, Luster, last April. In January Somerville announced a brand new Luster (Remixes) EP.
Her self-released 2019 album All My People channeled the wilderness of the Irish landscape through dense, ethereal soundscapes, bare boned percussion, and a heady electronic undertow, interspersed with ghostly vocals that are ever present and all encompassing, like crystalline glints of sunshine peeking through dark stormy clouds.
Since joining 4AD, she has released two covers as part of the label’s 40th anniversary Bills & Aches & Blues compilation, in addition to supporting label-mates Dry Cleaning on their EU tour. Her enigmatic and enthralling live show comes in both solo and band shape, born of her ties with the dynamic DIY scene that has emerged in Ireland over the past few years.
In total, the EP gives six tracks off Somerville’s already mesmerizing, wind-swept record new life in fitting, and sometimes surprising ways via its enlisted cast of friends and collaborators (Seefeel, YHWH Nailgun, Fatshaudi, colle, Asa Nisi Masa & Oscar18, and Boris). Alongside the announcement, the release of three remix tracks off the EP — Seefeel’s slow-burning “Stonefly” remix, where the track is extended over 7-minutes with crackling synths and whispered cosmological refrains; colle’s (Maya McGrory of Chanel Beads) “Projections” remix, where she adds to the longing inherent of the single with delicately plucked strings and lightly swirling feedback; and Brisbane-based underground dream-pop artist Fatshaudi’s (aka Rachael Ryan) swooning and romantic remix of “Up”, where she takes the track to an even glossier, more atmospheric plane.
