Acclaimed Scottish singer-songwriter Amy Duncan announces her new album ‘Cocoon’, to be released on 26 November.
Following on from her 2020 album ‘The Hidden World’, Amy Duncan’s aptly titled ‘Cocoon’ is inspired by lockdown restrictions and captures life in slow motion, mixing memories of childhood with dreams of escape, days drifting by and nights spent dancing at home with loved ones.
Amy said: “The atmosphere of life suddenly changing brought back lots of memories of my childhood in Glasgow and a recurring dream I had later on of trying to get back there again.
“I made a map of words to try and find some starting points for songs, and wrote pages without thinking too much about what I was writing, like a stream of consciousness which is where the word Cocoon popped up.
“There is a part of me that worries that later in life I might forget things, and I think if I have key memories of my life in my songs then it is a kind of map of myself if I ever get lost so, in that way, yes I think it is very personal, but I hope the songs are relatable for other people too.”
Cocoon is an album born out of lockdown and the difficult times that we all universally experienced. As a way of cathartic expression, Amy found comfort in the songwriting process.
She said: “It felt natural to create this music in the lockdown because, if there is something difficult going on in life, then my default thing is to write songs.
“It gives me a sense of security and positivity to know that I can make music out of how I am feeling and makes life feel less intense to have that outlet. I tend to only write music if I have a strong idea and it comes out easily. I never view it as work, rather it is just something I do that makes me feel better.”
The singer-songwriter talked about growing as an artist during lockdown, finding ways to develop her sounds.
She said: “For Cocoon I found that experimenting with sounds other than acoustic guitar and piano helped me to come up with new musical ideas and take me in a new direction, which keeps things interesting and creates a different atmosphere.
“I have a big love of electronic music – it is what I am drawn to listening to most at home and I would love to collaborate with an electronic music producer at some point to further develop that side of things.”
Amy also reflects how lockdown has changed her perception of her own performances. She said: “I used to feel that all I wanted to do was make recordings, but I think that was partly just me wanting to hide away and stay in my comfort zone.
“I have always felt nervous playing in front of an audience – it feels extremely intense to stand on-stage and sing about personal experiences. I will probably still feel like that to a certain extent when I get back on-stage again in November, but the difference now is that I won’t take it for granted that it is always going to be a possibility.”
Duncan will launch Cocoon with a very special show at The Voodoo Rooms in Edinburgh on November 21, which will also be livestreamed.
She said: “I’m really looking forward to playing with Guy Nicolson (drums) and Pete Harvey (cello/bass) at the live streamed album launch in November. At this stage we haven’t met for a rehearsal yet, so I’m really looking forward to hearing how the songs will sound and working with other musicians again.
“I’m also looking forward to seeing how I feel on-stage, and hoping that I will be able to just really be in the moment.”
