Following on from the release of his recent Aerial Songs EP, Hayden Thorpe has shared a special live performance film. Directed by Fiona Burgess, ‘Hayden Thorpe Presents Aerial Songs’ was filmed alongside the Ground Work production team.
The 12-minute film follows Hayden moving through a stripped back space to perform songs from the EP, with each song performed in a new setting. Mirroring the sentiment of the EP - evoking feelings of wild, natural space - the film is intrinsically connected to the landscape and remote nature of Hayden’s native Lake District.
Hayden on the film:
"Fiona and I looked to create a brief portal into our shared place of origin, The Lake District. For me, music and nature are indistinguishable from one another, they are different expressions of the same thing. By harnessing Fiona’s vision we were able to distil the songs and the realm to which they belong. So much of the making of this film was unspoken. We don’t hold our home within ourselves as some remembered knowledge, but rather as a present and felt sensation."
Director, Fiona Burgess says of the film:
"When Hayden first sent me these songs and explained how the EP was inspired by the Lake District it felt like the biggest gift. The songs themselves conjured up feelings of nostalgia and reverence for a landscape we both call home. I wanted to create the sense of a journey in the film; walking as a form of healing, a remedy, an act of kindness even. I love the idea that everything circles back to nature, and with this short film I hope you are transported momentarily to a place where you can appreciate the cyclical nature of a song's lifespan and the fact we are indebted to the earth and the soil we walk on. I also hope time slows down as you watch this film, I hope you can breathe fully and momentarily disconnect from your inbox. In Hayden's words "re-wild your heart".
Where his debut album, Diviner dealt with Hayden's experience and solace in digital mysticism, Aerial Songs sees an evolution into that 'digital pastoral' - an intentionally romantic sonic echo of the heritage and wonder of the natural environment. This is a collection of songs with the Lake District at its heart; Hayden’s own Cumbrian folk psychedelia.
Written and self-produced by Hayden with additional production work from Nathan Jenkins (aka Bullion), long-time collaborator Richard Formby and 4AD producer Fabian Prynn, Aerial Songs was originally composed as part of Hayden’s time as artist in residence at Aerial Festival - an arts, music and performance event due to take place in his native Cumbria.
