Beerjacket - Silver Cords (2018)

Nearly 5 years since the release of his last album, 'Darling Darkness', Beerjacket returns with his most ambitious project to date.

'Silver Cords' is more than just a new Beerjacket album. Accompanying the 12 songs are a collection of 12 short stories; intertwined with the music, intended for consumption alongside it. Of the project Kelly says, “At some point in the writing of 'Silver Cords', I decided the record would live in a book and that each song would be accompanied by a short story inspired by its lyrics.” Kelly started writing the album in 2015 and its completion has taken 3 years. “Story by story, approximately once a month, the songs’ siblings entered the room. My imagination has superimposed details on the real-life buildings that inspired settings and, in some way, the stories play out there interminably now on three to five minute loops.”

The combination of sound and print is something unique to 'Silver Cords'. Having released five albums in the traditional manner Kelly was keen to release something truly special. To make something physical that won't be cast adrift on a shelf in favour of its digital imprint. This pairing creates an ethereal tone which binds the stories with a dreamlike, magic realism quality, and certain recurring themes of isolation, now-ness, interconnectedness, loss, and fear.

The tenderness ebbs and flows conveyed perfectly with lead single 'Cord'. Refreshing in its simplistic truth, the track is yet another elucidation of why Beerjacket has become the cult figure, despite his modesty, within Scottish music that he is. Second single, 'Everybody’s Song' juxtaposes Kelly’s momentary self-doubt with his desire to connect through his music; both a feeling profoundly conveyed, and an endeavour successfully achieved. 'Silver Cords' will nestle itself alongside your most intimate thoughts, shedding both encouraging light and honest shade. All the while, it conveys that most distilled of life’s truths; it’s simple, but it’s also complicated.