IT is six years since Cathy Davey’s last album ‘The Nameless’ (Choice Music Prize nominated). She has been busy in the meantime, having released charity albums, written for film and TV, and set up her own charity, the My Lovely Horse Rescue, saving animals from their abusive pasts. Cathy and her partner Neil Hannon (Divine Comedy) are patrons of the charity.
My Lovely Horse Rescue is now a mainstay at the Electric Picnic Festival where weary punters can hang out in the friendly small zoo of rescue animals – mostly sleepy old horses and forgetful donkeys and hairy canines – and listen to surprise guests such as Divine Comedy and Villagers.
With the charity now on a solid foundation and blossoming, Cathy has found the time to get back to music.
‘New Forest’ was written and recorded in a forest in Galway. The location took Cathy away from any regular distractions.
“You wake up, and when you go for a walk you’re immediately aware of things,” she explains. “You’re a lot more in the moment, and that’s exactly where you need to be for writing. You’re exercising that part of your brain before you have to activate it, which makes a huge difference.
“So I did that – I gathered sticks and wild garlic, I cooked well, and I smelled really bad for five weeks!”
The resulting record uses synths and electronic beats with art-pop sounds that are quirky, uplifting and natural.
The album was debuted in its full sequential nature on the Hazel Wood Stage at Electric Picnic in 2016.
Speaking about the album, Cathy says: “New Forest is a way of articulating the complexity of humans working in the natural world. Don’t despair however, the album isn’t about the sounds of hedgehogs mating, it’s still very much a pop music album!”
Cathy Davey and band and no hedgehogs play Dolan’s this Saturday October 15.
