Words By: Brianna Vacca

Duo Paul Butler and Anthony Furey — previously known as The Young Folk — revamped their musical calling under the new moniker Elgin and have officially released their debut album Weightless / Still via Pixie Pace Records. They traveled the world under the Dublin collective The Young Folk before making the move to their newest modification Elgin. New instrumentation and stylistic offerings have been merged to collectively open a brand new door for the explorative duo.

Weightless / Still harbors an assemblage of motifs that present themselves through an eclectic indie-folk style. It’s a body of work outlined in County Offaly, Ireland during quarantine, whose unparagoned sound was crafted at the house of producer Scott Halliday. Distinctly, this agglomeration of simple yet unparalleled songs was birthed.

“Oh Love” kicks off the album with an aerial piano progression that backs up the sultry laced vocals and a class of folk makings. This previously released track details loss inspired by Butler’s uncle’s sudden passing and the singer’s feelings surrounding that occurrence. The second half of the track welcomes a biting drum hit empathizing the song’s emotive appeal.

“Stone’s Throw” follows — a song depicting self-inspection at a point in need with an atmospheric take on the ebonies and ivories. Luminous vocals fill the choruses while the protagonist pursues stability. Member Paul Butler says about the track, “The song is a self-evaluation at a low point. Very much a different version of myself, someone I most probably couldn’t relate to anymore. But a version that needed to happen.”

“Cherry Picked” inaugurates with perhaps the strongest lyric on the collection with, “you wanted a falcon, I gave you a finch.” It paints a simple lesson that precious memories cannot be cherry-picked under your accord over delicately placed keys The Colum McCann-inspired track advertises the ideology of easing your mind and pushing self-doubt while intellectual fraudulence to the side. Just breathing does the job justice. The music video for the track was made from Butler’s bedside window during a night of sleep deprivation.

Weightless / Still is filled with the preservation of one’s emotional health from not letting your spirit dwell and letting your mind wander. It is bathed in edgy synth and cleansed by vivid imagery. Lyrical poetry is one of the two’s strong suits as it is outfitted throughout this record and continues to prove itself as the album comes to an end.

Closure is sought after in the final track “Fault Lines.” The song opens with a hauntingly poignant piano and nurtures the idea of broken love offering the ability to continue pondering the works’ written compositions well beyond the closing of the record.

Elgin’s developmental stage came at the right time for both Butler and Furey as they embarked on a new musical direction. If quarantine has taught Elgin anything, it’s that simplicity is always the way, like the kind they held dearly at the beginning of their career.

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