CYRM, the debut album from experimental doom folk band, ØXN, will be released via Claddagh Records on Fri 27th October 2023. ØXN [pron. ox-en], comprising Mercury-nominated Radie Peat (LANKUM), Katie Kim, John ‘Spud’ Murphy and Eleanor Myler (Percolator), released their debut single ‘Love Henry’ earlier this year, which was then followed by a limited edition 12” vinyl release of the single featuring a physical-only b-side track, ‘Ninetto’.
ØXN, say of the forthcoming release of CYRM: “We had rehearsed so intensely for our live stream in the Martello tower that we figured it would be the best thing to book in studio time right away. So, during some phase of the pandemic, we went up to Hellfire Studios and got battered by gales and petted cows while putting down the bones of the album. Some of said gale can be heard on The Feast. The rest of it, mainly vocals, recorded by Katie and Spud back in Guerilla Studios.”
CYRM is a six-track album, just over 45 minutes in total length, featuring four original songs written by Radie Peat, Katie Kim, Eleanor Myler and John Murphy (‘Cruel Mother’, ‘The Trees They Do Grow High’, ‘Love Henry’ and ‘The Feast’) and two covers (‘The Wife of Michael Cleary’ by Maija Sofia and ‘Farmer in the City’ by Scott Walker).
The first signing to Ireland’s iconic label Claddagh Records, in 18 years, ØXN is rooted in story; The band digs deep into the earth and retrieves evocative tales of love, loss, longing, revenge and ritual. Add to that the other-worldly sonic textures that beckon you to peer behind the curtain with your heart in your mouth, and you might get close to anticipating the music that ØXN has created.
ØXN exist at the uncharted intersection of its constituent parts, melding Lankum’s experimental doom folk (Radie Peat), the motorik euphoria of Percolator (John ‘Spud’ Murphy and Eleanor Myler) and Katie Kim’s glorious Lynchian meta-verse. Try to imagine the missing link between Enya, Ennio Morricone, Richard Dawson and Neu! And then add a pinch of something you never thought of and you’ll start to have a sense of this gloriously unique sonic universe which they inhabit.
What began as a side project duo between Radie Peat and Katie Kim in 2018 blossomed into a full-on, multi-textured tapestry with the addition of Myler and Murphy during lockdown. This resulted in one of the streaming highlights of the Covid era – an unforgettable live performance from a Martello tower in Dublin in conjunction with visual artist and Lankum collaborator Vicky Langan.
ØXN take their literal name from the draft animal. Oxen are not a breed of cattle but rather steers – adult male bovines that have been castrated. Something about the story of the beasts appealed to the band: Castrated, pulling heavy machinery, out to slog, or an interred beast for milking, since about 4000 BC. Sometimes worshipped, sometimes doomed for domestication.
Like Claddagh Records’ founder Garech Browne, with his own rich and storied past, ØXN is a band made up of people whose primary expression comes through music above personality, above aesthetic, above all else. This need to tell stories through evocative sounds that are enough to stop you dead in your tracks is the twine that binds Claddagh Records artists together. So it’s fitting that ØXN lead the charge as the label enters a new era that will see these stories reach farther than ever before following the signing of a worldwide licensing agreement with Universal Music Ireland in 2020.
Check out the video for ‘Love Henry’ – BELOW:
ØXN have also announced two live dates at The Sugar Club, Dublin, on Tue, 31st October and Wed, 1st November. Presented by Enthusiastic Eunuch and Foggy Notions, support will be from Iona Zajac (31/10) and Poor Creature (1/11). Tickets to both Sugar Club shows are on sale now. Tickets €22.50 + booking fee available from tickets.ie. Buy now.
TRACKLIST
1. Cruel Mother
2. The Trees They Do Grow High 3. Love Henry
4. The Feast
5. The Wife of Michael Cleary
6. Farmer in the City
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