Competition - the bored fire (2026)

there’s an internal logic to the bored fire that in different moments references Nina Simone, the 1969 film Medium Cool and passages from Don Delillo’s JFK novel.

outwardly Competition channels something of Loren Connors or the collaborations of claire rousay & more eaze. the bored fire operates as a guitar album, one that sees him reflect on feeling for years that playing guitar was deeply embarrassing, accepting that the world keeps spinning and time, as ever, renders all things eternally untethered.

the field recording that underpins the album was recorded in Newcastle’s now forgotten Monument Mall in 2011 by artist and expert archivist ex tynam. it holds together alongside a feeling that shapes the album, of a realisation that comes after the fact, of an end that was overlooked but is increasingly felt now. (reluctantly hauntological in 2026)

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Competition is the performance moniker of Craig Pollard. Craig is an artist and academic interested in time, tenderness and the worlds we create.