Our Artist Of The Week is amateur theatre group aka Andrew James Murphy and friends. The name was chose to release music written a decade previous but never completed. His debut album, ‘races 1990 – 2021’ contains the voices and instrumentation of musicians he has played with since his teens (Davy and Iain Berryman) which frames amateur theatre group as more an open collective, rather than a solo performance or traditional band.
Listen to the alternative beauty that is ‘races 1090 – 2021’ here:
At a first listen you can hear hints of the likes of Bon Iver and Ben Howard with the melancholy of Daughter. The debut is honest and raw at the core with interweaving intimacy and grandeur of the best kind.
About the album Andrew says: “It’s difficult to put a finger on precisely when this album began. Some of the songs, or at least parts of them, were written while I was still a teenager. Most of it was written in the decade or so since. Though I still couldn’t put an exact date on it, it’s much easier to say I began working on it with purpose at the start of this year. For years I have had dozens of songs rattling around in my head, without ever really managing to tie them together. I wanted to finally create something, complete it, and set it free. ‘races 1990 – 2021’ is built from scraps of unfinished recordings, new ideas piled on top of old songs, and a couple of pieces started from scratch. It is the product of months of exorcising old demons, relocating my love for music and learning again how to write it. In that sense, at least, I can say it has been a success.There are still songs lurking around in my brain that didn’t find their home on this record, but there is renewed hope they’ll find one soon, and they are being joined almost daily by new ideas. This album has broken a logjam, and I feel sure it won’t be my last as amateur theatre group.”
This open collective have merch, so do us a favour and buy it all here: Merch store
For more information go to their link tree here: LinkTree
Support the artist:
Spotify: amateur theatre group
Instagram: @amateurtheatregroup
Twitter: @amateurtheatregroup
