Malojian sets off in direction of ‘Southlands’

The highly acclaimed artist has received support throughout Ireland and the UK, securing airplay nationally and recording a session with BBC Radio Two.

The first single, ‘Communion Girls’ is the perfect introduction to the album sound and gives a little taste of what you can expect from this release.

Stevie said: “I didn’t really intend to start another album so soon after my debut, The Deer’s Cry. I had been writing a lot of new songs and wanted to demo them, so I asked Michael Mormecha (drums) if he fancied helping out. We started with Communion Girls at Mikey’s studio (Millbank). I knew straight away that I wanted to record the whole album there.

“Millbank itself is really interesting. There’s a lot of history about the place. It’s still a working farm so there’d be all sorts of stuff going on that you wouldn’t get in a conventional recording studio. The whole process & environment kept making me think of Dylan and The Band at Big Pink. Very chilled out & a lot of fun. Rural and real.

“We recorded loads of stuff, always trying to capture a live performance as the foundation and then building from there. We actually had an album after 10 days, however things started to take off a bit with The Deer’s Cry so suddenly we were touring more than usual – and Southlands got put on hold.

“Every time we came back to finish it, I had new songs – I was dealing with a lot of personal stuff (illness, death, the birth of my son) – and I think it’s all there in the songs. What I’ve ended up with sounds like a proper band record – rather than just a singer songwriter with some session guys.

“The album was mixed at the end of 2014, in a small cottage overlooking the Atlantic Ocean, in a remote part of County Donegal. No phones. No internet. Just peace and quiet and nature. It felt like the perfect way to wrap up the album.”