Scottish drone folk project Wild Gods present debut release

Music

Based in Glasgow and led by the Scottish artist Jamie Livingstone, Wild Gods make brooding and majestic modern roots music incorporating elements of Celtic folk, drone, psych, electronics, and noise.

The music of Wild Gods is steeped in Celtic heritage and folk tradition, but executed with a potent, contemporary approach to production that gives their work a hallucinogenic texture, like traditional Gaelic ballads transformed by traces of psilocybin.

Fuelled by Livingstone’s connection with Vox Liminis, a Glasgow-based community organization who run creative projects for people with experience of the criminal justice system, the project’s debut release evokes a kind of intergenerational, psychedelic pilgrimage across weather-torn highlands.

Coming through a challenging time, Livingstone ended up working for Vox Liminis, an organization that supports people who have committed crimes, victims of crime, and people with family experience of crime. Whilst there, Livingstone worked alongside social workers, criminologists, and prison-leavers, helping to support the organization’s activities. Amongst all this, he was taught how to use Ableton, and he also taught others to use the software. Overall it makes for an encouraging, community-minded origin story, the outcome of which is pretty inspired.

With vocals sung in both Gàidhlig (Scottish Gaelic) and English by fellow Glasgow-based artist and Ransom Note favourite Susannah Stark – check her recent mix for us here – the music of Wild Gods interweaves ‘foreboding electronics, barrelling Gaelic folk punk, psalm chorals, no wave tinged guitar minimalism‘ and more. Inspired by a transformative experience on the plant medicine Ayahuasca, Livingstone describes ‘The Glorious Abysmal‘ as an attempt to translate “the hard-ecstatic edges of tender and gut-wrenching experiences through songs about madness, language and sex. I wanted the voices of the Gaels to echo through the music”.

Livingstone has previously written songs with Scottish producer and DJ Barry Can’t Swim, with some of this material featured on BCS’ Late Night Tales compilation. The release artwork was created in collaboration with Olifur Briedford, who has worked on projects for Björk and on the book / exhibition Shane MacGowan – The Eternal Buzz and the Crock of Gold.

Falling outside our usual dance music wheelhouse, but with a firm, discerning grounding in electronic and experimental music, this one comes highly recommended. Fans of Lankum, Earth, Nick Cave & The Bad Seeds and The Pogues will find a lot to savour here.

‘The Glorious Abysmal‘ is out now on vinyl and digital formats.

Check the artwork and the cinematic video for the lead single ‘Rest and Be Thankful‘ below.

To have a listen and for more info, head HERE.