Reviewed by Eamonn Keyes.
It’s always interesting to come to a fresh piece of music from an artist I was previously unaware of, so when I was asked to review a new single and found out it had an Orkney connection I wasn’t quite sure what to expect. Except maybe fiddles, but I was wrong.
‘None of It’s Yours Anyway’ is that same new single from Xav Clarke, currently best known for his award winning work as a composer, and it was produced by Mercury Music Prize winner Mike Lindsay, one of the founders of UK acid-folk Tunng. It is the second release from the upcoming 8 track album ‘Fossil Forest’, due for release on May 9th.
Written in a cabin on the coast in Orkney, it provides the follow up to last month’s release ‘Skyscraper’ But let’s hear what Xav himself says about his Orkney experience:
“Whilst living in Stromness, Orkney for four months – I set up a music studio in our ‘bothy’ by the sea. Every day the Northlink Ferry came and left, and everyday inspiration came bounding in on the waves up against the studio window.
“While my partner worked for the RSPB, I wrote and recorded music, and in between, we explored the islands together. We made it to Rousay, Hoy, Sanday, Shapinsay, Westray and even Papa Westray on the back of a little fishing boat.
“We got engaged in Happy Valley and made promises in the dark at the Ring of Brodgar!
“At the time I was writing songs for an indie documentary and this song was initially just a late night brain dance that I sang and strummed into my cassette recorder. I forgot about it and discovered it again for the album sessions. I took it into the studio with Mike and we noticed how much momentum was latent in the song that could be brought to life!! We kept the cassette recording and built on top of it, adding drums by the amazing James Vine (of Waldo’s Gift) and turned it into a pumping bopper in the style of some of my favourite songs like ‘Dancing In The Dark’ or ‘Just Like Heaven’.”
So, I got my headphones cranked up and had my first listen, and it wasn’t what I’d expected at all, with early 1980s Casio Orchestral Manoeuvres drums, acoustic guitar and a vocal that initially falls on the endearing side of twee. But first impressions are never good indicators.
The song begins to develop as the bass kicks in, and then suddenly after verse 2 the musical palate explodes into the ears. Psychedelic noise effects, burbling synths, chiming guitars all compete for attention with a one finger piano motif, and in that context the vocal fits perfectly.
This is a song for sunny summer mornings, drives to the beach and a soundtrack to get ready to for a night out. It exudes youthful optimism, excitement and playfulness in a way I haven’t heard for quite a while.
Comparisons? Perhaps poppier Beck, a more complex early Ben Folds on drugs, perhaps a nod to 90s quirk, with songs that would sit perfectly as the soundtrack to a TV series like. Loudermilk. A big perhaps, as Xav has a unique, distinctive style and sound that is very ear-friendly, with more hooks than you could shake a stick at. It is fresh indeed, exciting and sounds like someone having fun whilst in the process of making good music.
On the back of this single I accessed some of Xav Clarke’s back catalogue, including the last single Skyscraper, and what I found in his songs confirm him as an interesting, slightly hippy-dippy dabbler in sound, marrying it to excellent pop chord progressions and melodies that will stay with listeners far beyond the end of the song. Hopefully an exciting future talent who could zip off in any and all musical directions.
But back to Xav’s musical sojourn in Orkney:
“My Grandad was stationed manning the barrage balloons on Fara during WW2, it was amazing to look across the bay at the same waters and hills that he would have seen.
“The first day of 2025 brought an amazing display of the merry dancers (northern lights) over our heads. Finishing the album in Orkney was a mystical experience for me, some days we’d be visited by Orca or Humpback Whales in the bay outside the bothy. Walking in the footsteps of our neolithic ancestors helped me to contextualise the themes that were appearing in my songs of life, death, extinction and fossils.
“I was struck with a bout of Bell’s Palsy for the second two months and one half of my face became paralysed. To distract myself from no longer being able to sing, I started to make a music video with a 15 pound digital camera I had. I wanted to capture what it felt like for me, experiencing this wild landscape and the memory that lives within it. The cliffs, the waves, the animals, the snow, the mountains – Orkney let me be a part of its story. The amazing community of people in Stromness were so supportive as I was recovering and I’ll be forever grateful for their positivity.”
I’m so pleased I had a chance to encounter Xav’s music, which will now feature on my regular playlist. Give him a listen, you’ll not regret it.
I really hope he comes back to Orkney for a show.
None Of It’s Yours Anyway is the second single from Xav’s album ‘Fossil Forest’, set for release on the 9th May, with UK and European tour dates set to coincide.
Spotify: https://open.spotify.com/track/3NUnzMpuYPgPwim4qhQBp7?si=efc3341e93094d25
Video on Youtube
The single is the second to be revealed from Xav’s debut album ‘Fossil Forest’, set for release on the 9th May. An 8-track collection, it is a record that is in equal parts uplifting and thought-provoking and is the sound of a unique artist building a musical world that is entirely his own.
Brimming with the same psychedelic charm as ‘Skyscraper’, ‘None of It’s Yours Anyway’ is quintessential Xav, juxtaposing a genuinely infectious musical joy with lyrics about the fleeting nature of existence. Starting from a tiny thought mumbled and strummed into a cassette recorder, the song builds with expansive instrumentation, before exploding like ripples out from a pebble dropped in a pond. Speaking about the single, Xav says
The single also arrives with a video that was shot on a £15 digital camera on Orkney over winter 2024, filmed whilst Xav was living in his studio on the edge of the water, it captures the glorious naturalism of the area; fossils, cliffs, monster waves, killer whales, neolithic tombs and remains older than the pyramids.
In addition to the release, Xav Clarke will head out on a headline tour of the UK and Europe this May, taking in eleven dates, starting in Southampton and culminating in Bristol on 3rd June. Tickets are on sale now and available here.