NEWS: LYR @ The Cluny 2

Image by Steve Gullick

When musician Richard Walters and poet laureate Simon Armitage first crossed paths a decade ago, their intention was a one-off collaboration; the latter providing words to match the former’s lush melodic sensibilities. Nevertheless, the result – Walters’ solo track Redwoods – left its mark on both men, to the point that neither hesitated some years later at the prospect of picking up where they left off.

With multi-instrumentalist Patrick Pearson also in tow and Armitage taking up vocal duties, the trio set about establishing a fully realised band-focused project; “not just poetry with music underneath.” Presented under the guise of LYR, this meeting of minds manifested in resplendent fashion on last year’s Call In The Crash Team, an album of cinematic soundscapes hewn from all manner of sonic components, focused thematically on personal crises in an age of post-industrialisation, relentless austerity and recurring recession. “I think it’s open-ended as to what we do,” Pearson states. “There’s no set of rules.”

Now, the trio are finally poised to showcase this synergy on their inaugural string of live dates; a tour which swings by Newcastle with a date at The Cluny 2 on Thursday 21^st October. With local multi-instrumentalist and neo-classical composer Benjamin Fitzgerald added as support alongside his spellbinding Ensemble, an evening of serene, enriching sounds lies in wait!

LYR and Benjamin Fitzgerald perform at The Cluny 2, Newcastle on Thursday 21^st October