Foto-© Cáit Fahey
Die irische Musikerin Maria Somerville hat mit Luster Ende April ihr 4AD-Debüt veröffentlicht – damit werden Erinnerungen an die klassische 4AD-Phase und das Shoegaze-Hoch vergangener Tage wach. Somerville wuchs im ländlichen County Galway an der rauen irischen Westküste auf. Sie zog später nach Dublin, wo sie an ihrem Signature-Sound arbeitete: atmosphärischem Dreampop, der von der Landschaft ihrer Jugend geprägt ist. Die ätherischen Gitarrenklänge, spärlichen Rhythmen und elektronischen Ambient-Sounds hielt sie erstmals auf dem 2019 selbstveröffentlichten Album All My People fest, einem Werk, das knietief in Nostalgie und Sehnsucht watet.
Erst als sie nach Connemara zurückkehrte, in ein Haus nicht weit von dem, in dem sie aufwuchs – und von wo aus man einen der größten Seen des Landes, den Lough Corrib, überblicken kann – begann Somerville mit der Arbeit an Musik, die schließlich zum neuen Album Luster werden sollte. Während ihr DIY-Debüt Erinnerungen und Melancholie in nebligen Slowcore hüllte, zeigen die zwölf neuen Tracks eine Künstlerin, die sich des Weges, den sie eingeschlagen hat, viel sicherer ist. “I can see more clearly than I could before. I know now what’s true for me”, singt sie passend in Trip. Wir sprachen mit Somerville über ihre Entwicklung, die Entstehung des Albums und vieles mehr – unser Interview!
When did you start to make music and what made you start in the first place?
I was always singing when I was younger, because my dad and my uncles used to sing. So that was my first introduction to music, hearing them sing together, doing these kind of blood harmonies. That was very powerful and always stuck with me. Singing for me was a huge catharsis, and I used to sing my way through all the situations, good or bad times, and that was nice. And then I did a sound course when I was 18 or 19, so that’s when I started writing music, once I started using recording software and got some gear together.
Your music is very pure shoegaze music – how did you fall in love with this genre, which bands and records did influence you most and what quality does the sound have to you?
I guess I like a whole variation of sound, and I’m interested in sound that kind of feels immersive and physical, whether it’s noisy, melodic, or just kind of single sustained notes. And of course I love some albums that come from that genre like My Bloody Valentine’s ‘Loveless’. When I heard that first it made me think about sound in a different way, and songwriting and melodies. And I suppose I’ve been interested in different types, like Pauline Oliveros, Mary Jane Leach, Laurie Anderson and Éliane Radigue and those kind of composers as well.
You crew up in the countryside, in Galway at the Irish west coast, then moved to Dublin to return sometime later to Connemara – all these places seem to have had a great effect to your sound and this record. Could you describe how each city left its footprint in the songs in your eyes?
I suppose there’s a stillness in Connemara that helped with a kind of spaciousness in the arrangements, and the landscapes there too. And living in the city, writing ‘All My People’ there, thematically with the lyrics I was yearning for that kind of space and time, the rhythms and the patterns.
The record is called Luster – how did you come up with the title and what does it mean to you in that context?
The title ‘Luster’ just summed up this body of work for me because from the view from my window in Commemara I could see, especially when it was raining, the light shifting on the the rocks outside with the water, and it felt apt for the title of the record.
Can you describe a bit the production process of Luster, how, when and where it came into life, what was the best/what the worst moment during production and what is the most told anecdote of that time?
It happened in pockets of time, in different places, like my house in Commermara, and friends’ houses in Dublin. Also a friend who has a kind of cabin out that way in the West of Ireland as well, and then remote sessions with Diego Herrera aka Suzanne Craft in LA and RIP Swirl in Berlin and mixing sessions we did in New York. So it’s very spread out. During the production, there were hard processes with certain songs, but then some songs just came together really easily. One of the things I liked was getting the vocals engineered, because I engineered them all myself on ‘All My People’, and this time my friends Finn and Henry engineered, and one day I was struggling a bit, and Henry said, ‘We’re not looking for excellent, we’re just looking for good.’ And then I did a take that stuck because it took the pressure off, so that stood out.
Your album comes out in a political but also socially very hectic time and has the quality to give the listener some piece and soothing – is this part of your concept and your plan for your music?
I just was making music naturally, and it comes out in that way. So I didn’t have any greater plans with it, just to write and make music.
We especially love the single Garden – could you tell us a bit about the story behind it, how and when it was done?
That kind of began as a loop with my guitar and vocals. And then I worked on it with Diego Herrera, who’s Suzanne Craft, and we worked on it remotely which was an amazing process with a lot of trust and intuition. It flowed very well. The baseline is done by Diego, which I think is amazing, I liked that process a lot.
Is there a song that stands out for you on the record personally, which and why?
There’s a lot that I really like. But maybe ‘Corrib’, because I remember the day I wrote it. And some songs are more visceral in that way. I can still feel that sort of transmission.
Do you have a work routine when writing songs and if so, how does it look like?
I usually write a lot over a period of time where I just get loads of ideas down, that part is really enjoyable and natural. And then I kind of come back and try and finish things or flesh things out, and that’s the harder part, because you have to be a bit more pragmatic.
In which situations do you usually write the lyrics for the songs and is there a special surrounding / atmosphere that you work best in?
It sometimes just happens quite naturally. I suppose I do like a bit of peace and quiet and time, but then that sort of creative flow can show up at any time. So I could be in a small loud space, and still there might be room for that kind of creativity, or the writing flow.
We read that the songs often were developed through living room sessions – how can we imagine this sessions?
They were really nice sessions, because we were able to follow ideas very intuitively. And we weren’t really stuck to any time constraints, so we would be able to take breaks and go for long walks through the fields and go swimming. It just very felt very relaxed, and it was a good kind of space to be for making things work in a natural way.
You were also working with J. Colleran and Ian Lynch of Lankum on the record, could you tell a bit how it come to this and what influence they had on the songs/record?
Yeah, Ian Lynch played the uilleann pipes on ‘Violet’, that was in some of the first sessions which my friend Brendan recorded in Dublin. And that was an amazing experience actually, because on ‘All My People’ I never got to cast the line out to have any other musicians on, so hearing him play, I was really grateful for that process. And then J. Colleran, Jack, was amazing and vital at kind of pulling things together. Both were great to work with, I already enjoyed it.
The Irish music scene seems from the outside very thriving in the past few years – with a lot of classical folk, punk and indie influences to break a lot of bands with sounds developed from classic roots into something sounding very fresh. From Lankum, to Fontaines D.C. to SPRINTS. How would you – as an insider – describe the Irish music scene?
There’s amazing stuff in Ireland. There’s a label called wherethetimegoes, who released some of my favourite albums like Nashpaints’ ‘Blindman The Gambler’. There’s Michelle Doyle, who’s Rising Damp. And then there’s Nyahh Records who’s releasing a lot of amazing more contemporary traditional music, and it feels very important and vital. There’s amazing musicians in Ireland doing great stuff all over the country, so it’s brilliant.
You’re signed to 4AD – a label that was very much known for shoegaze music in its past. How did you get in contact with them and was the labels shoegaze history a reason for you to sign with them?
Again, it just happened naturally. There’s very nice people working there and it felt like a great home, very nurturing. And of course I love the eighties and nineties eras at 4AD but they’re still putting out great stuff. So it’s a great place to be.
We saw you support Dry Cleaning on their last tour in Hamburg – in may you’re coming back to Germany for two shows. What can we expect from the coming shows?
We’re a 3 piece – it’s me, Sean Being on bass and Michael Spears on drums. They both have amazing projects actually in their own rights. But yeah, it’s kind of, I’d say, immersive. And we’ve kind of taken on new forms for the songs. And I’m getting to experiment a lot more with the guitar and distortions and feedback and things like that.
Coming back to the Irish music scene – which newcomer act should we check out?
There’s so many – Róisín Berkley, Olan Monk, Nashpaints.
What are you doing when you’re not doing music?
I guess, listening to music, and I do a radio show on NTS every Monday and Tuesday. I guess that is music as well, but in a different way. And I like walking and swimming.
What was the last record you brought?
I bought a record in the Hague, and I can’t remember what it was because it was recommended.
What did you learn in 2025?
I’m still learning.
Which song makes you dance every time?
Container – Scamblers
How would your Bedroomdisco look like?
Calm
