INTERVIEW: Amateur Ornithologist

As they embark on their fourth album cycle in five years, the pace and scale of Amateur Ornithologist’s progress is increasingly tough to comprehend. It’s tempting to wonder who’d be more taken aback: a newcomer in 2026, learning that this crew of multifarious talents was once a humble one-man project; or a time traveller from that cautious, immediate post-pandemic world, observing the sprawling, tight-knit ensemble this birdwatching-inspired pastime has become.

“We’ve been together for about two years now, and everybody has a part to play,” states Daniel Clifford, the original instigator now spearheading a dynamic and collaborative group framework. “The people in the band are the people I see more than anybody else,” he reveals: “They’re my best friends, basically.”

Certainly, leading an expansive company harbouring quirks and musical ambitions of their own has done nothing to quell Daniel’s maximalist instincts. This much is evident across the ornate sounds and lofty designs of The Haunted Life of Architecture, a new album which even long-time listeners may scarcely believe is only Amateur Ornithologist’s second as a fully-fledged band. Discussing the upcoming launch party (at Pop Recs, Sunderland on Saturday 16th May) Daniel speaks of cramming 11 or 12 musicians onstage, and the difficulties of recreating songs featuring “four keyboards, two harpsichords, two synths, a flute…” Consolidation, it seems, is a concept as alien as a pared-back line-up.

“We know what we are as a band now, so we really wanted to push the stuff that makes us different from everybody else,” Daniel asserts. “We’ve been lucky to have a relatively stable line-up for quite a while now – Dan Humble on drums, Chris Perriman on bass, Maddie Smyth on viola, Marianne Kell on cello and saxophone and Gio Onofri on guitar – and one thing we’ve realised is that we’re no longer simply a guitar band with added strings. There are multiple songs on this album where it’s the strings that take the lead; or where all the instruments come together and weave in and out of one another. It was something we really wanted to lean into.”

If early LPs Birdwatching and Building the Bird were ebullient hatchlings and predecessor Hide the sound of a band taking flight, The Haunted Life of Architecture sees Amateur Ornithologist spread their wings in full, exploring the vast range of sonic landscapes and textural possibilities at their disposal. The upshot is their most accomplished and elaborately crafted collection to date; adorning vintage hook-laden songwriting with lavish baroque arrangements, layered harmonies and inspired instrumental flourishes.

The Haunted Life of Architecture sees Amateur Ornithologist spread their wings in full, exploring the vast range of sonic landscapes and textural possibilities at their disposal

“I was going through a period of burnout, and wanted to focus on the stuff which makes me happy and feel like a human – so my partner and I went on a small holiday to Rhuddlan in North Wales,” says Daniel, recalling the record’s initial impetus. “Every day we’d go on a walk to an old cathedral or castle, and I’d get back and write a song inspired by the place we’d just visited. They all started out with titles like ‘Hill Fort,’ ‘Marble Cathedral,’ and things like that!”

Returning to the North East, Daniel presented the bones of an album to his bandmates; seeking not merely to embellish his creations, but to platform the prowess and unique skills of each member. “I’m constantly pushing us all to do something fresh and interesting, not just the things we’d normally do. That applies to me as much as anybody else; I’m always looking to improve my singing, hold notes for longer and think of things I could do different lyrically. It can lead to a bit of tension at times, but we all find it exciting to push ourselves and produce the very best we’re capable of.”

“I wanted to bring together every aspect of who we are as a band,” he continues, turning to the eclectic, often startling results. Laid out across 10 tracks, they swoon from the ecstatic pop of latest single I See Faces to the sombre yet luxurious waltz of Lament, a highlight implicitly inspired by Daniel’s three-decade long friendship with album engineer Martin Trollope (Harbourmaster). Perhaps inevitably given the record’s origins, there’s also a heightened gothic influence at play, driven home on chiming mid-pacers Swing Around and I Catch a Glimpse. “I think that element was there on the early records too, but it was only peeking out,” Daniel offers. “All I read is ghost stories and folk horror zines – they’ve definitely bled in this time around – and every October we try to watch a horror film each day – particularly psychological horror. That’s the kind of stuff I was trying to tap into.”

While bonds of friendship form a key component of Amateur Ornithologist’s chemistry, another is their shared – albeit diverse – experiences of neurodiversity. It’s a factor Daniel raises proudly on closing track The Mirror Crack’d, recounting his own trials with autism with hitherto unheard candour. “I often look around when I’m part of groups and feel like I’m not there. I read situations rather than experiencing them; it’s been that way my entire life,” he divulges. “I’ve not necessarily struggled to write about these things in the past, but actually presenting them has proven a lot more difficult – especially when the feelings I’m describing might relate to somebody in the room, whether they’re in an audience we’re playing to or they’re a member of the band!”

With such bold advances, The Haunted Life or Architecture is perhaps the first Amateur Ornithologist album to feel like a culmination – a destination, as opposed to a step on the road to something greater. As The Mirror Crack’d’s frenetic climax plays out, it’s hard to imagine more being squeezed from this unlikely, hard-won synergy of talents. Is this their peak, or merely a hint at future potential? What’s certain is that they’ll stretch every available sinew to find out – and that should their prolific work ethic continue, it’ll not be long until we too discover the answer.

The Haunted Life of Architecture is released on Friday 15th May.