BANGOR born artist Foy Vance is having a year to remember. Upheavals in his personal relationship saw the musician move from London to the quietness of rural Scotland and write and record his new album. He spent a lot of 2012 on the road in the UK and US opening shows for mega pop star Ed Sheeran and in January he signed a worldwide record deal with highly regarded US label Glassnote, home to Mumford & Sons, Two Door Cinema Club, Phoenix and more.
The life changing events in his personal life are chronicled in his new album ‘Joy of Nothing’. The album was crafted from a place of sadness but the songs are uplifting, proving the spirit is resilient. It is a bittersweet love album and Vance has made a record that chronicles the sweet hurt of love and what it does to the men and women involved with all of the fallout.
Foy Vance was in Limerick last week in advance of the album release and worldwide tour and spoke to Limerick Post.
The new album ‘Joy of Nothing’ was, for the most part, written in Scotland, as Foy explains, “the catalyst for this record was the song ‘Closed Hand, Full Of Friends’. I had been living in London for seven years. It just got to the point where I had no silence in my life. I was touring my arse off to try and facilitate my life in London and the cost of living in London. I’d be going from city to city via motorway and flightpath and then back to a noisy city. So I moved up to Aberfeldy in Scotland and I wrote this song ‘Closed Hand, Full Of Friends’, a song about hope in a hard place, then all these other songs came in a matter of days.”
If you extricate yourself from a hub of the international music business, is that not the equivalent of career suicide? Foy doesn’t agree: “No, it has polarized what I do and what I care about, which is writing songs. In London you are in the humdrum of the industry but in Aberfeldy you are in the haunts of the ancient bards where I am surrounded by folk music, people who make music for a very different reason. Not making music that is hip to the scene and happening now.”
The album’s opening track ‘Closed Hand, Full of Friends’ was captured in one take at the end of a recording session. “A couple of friends came into the studio and as soon as they came in, I thought, now there is my close handful of friends. Lets do that one so we kept the session running. The band are all fine musicians, none of them play their instrument as much as they play the song. We fed off the energy in the place and got it in one take.”
The album’s closing track is ‘Guiding Light’, performed with Ed Sheeran. Foy has supported Sheeran throughout his UK and US tours and Ed has included the song in his live sets.
“Ed is inspiring to be around, he is connecting with his generation. He is the most unlikely pop star ever, ’cos he is so down to earth in many respects but he can make everyone feel like they are the only person at the gig. We have been writing music together, he has become a very close friend, we keep in contact all the time.”
Foy Vance signed with US indie label Glassnote after Christmas. Glassnote is getting a lot of press attention recently, Mumford & Sons are Rolling Stone cover stars, the label has the Grammy winning Phoenix, Chvrches, Daughter, and Irish acts Two Door Cinema Club and Little Green Cars, among others.
“They were my first choice, we met Daniel Glass founder of Glassnote Records six months before signing the contract. You can tell if someone is spinning you bullsh*t or saying what they really think. I knew if this guy signs me it is for no other reason than he believes in what I do.”
It was Daniel Glass’s wife who brought Foy to his attention. She had a demo of Foy’s playing constantly at home. “All eyes are on Daniel at the moment in the business because he is kinda bossing it.”
‘Closed Hand, Full Of Friends’ is out now and the album ‘Joy of Nothing’ from Foy Vance goes on release on August 23.
