Peak Practice

Much of the chatter surrounding Tom McShane’s new album, The Ural Winter, has focused on the interesting nature of its inception. Recorded live over two nights; the sizeable audience invited to the customised studio at Belfast’s Oh Yeah were encouraged (were, in fact, expected) to help with the backing vocals, aid the acoustics, and ultimately shake up the air in the room. And because of all that, and thanks too to the sympathetic production job done by Ben McAuley, The Ural Winter is a wonderful sounding record.

But if you concentrate too much on the method of its construction, there’s a chance you can miss the magnificent thing that has actually been built. And that really would be a shame. Humane, lyrical, piercingly truthful (and personal): this is the album Tom has been working towards for years. And there’s no better guide than Tom himself, to help plot a course to the heart of this most heartfelt of albums.
The Water
“2008 was the most difficult year of my adult life. I had fallen into a terrible state of depression and the seeds of The Ural Winter were sown during that period of emotional turmoil. More was written after my return to health, as a means of putting unwanted feelings to rest.
‘The Water’ was the last song written for the album, although it is representative of my mindset during my depression. I felt it was important that the album should begin there to put what followed in context.”
Fighter
“I had released a version of ‘Fighter’ as a 7” in 2008, intended as the first recording of what would become my next album. Returning to the studio following the Fighter tour, I found I was increasingly dissatisfied with making music in that environment and the project was abandoned.
I saw ‘Fighter’ as the first example of a change in my writing style, a style I would further develop while writing this album. It seemed proper that I include it.”
The Ural Winter
“In 2009 I threw myself into a sink-or-swim adventure across the USA. In many interviews I have spoken of how this was an attempt to reconnect with music, which it was, but it was also an attempt to reconnect with life and find joy in it. I cannot overestimate the impact that tour had on the ethos and sound of this album, particularly on the title track.”
Love Is Hard
“I wrote this song ostensibly about a close friend but I later realised I’d been writing as much about myself. It’s about how people can harden themselves to disappointments of the heart in order to protect themselves, but how that can reduce our capacity to feel anything at all. It’s quite dark. The recording features the wonderful Ciara O’Neill on vocals.”
One Man Band
“Perhaps this song was an attempt to prove to myself that in spite of my melancholic leanings and unconventional song structures, that I could also do up-tempo, C major pop. I wrote it in a hotel in Chicago’s Loop on the aforementioned American trip. The recording features beautiful cello playing by Silhouette’s Zarah Fleming.”
The Ballad Of Morton Candell
“Travelling through a rundown London borough, I saw in the middle of its once proud town square, a beautiful old building, now boarded up and overgrown. I imagined how proud the architect must have been of such an achievement. But, I thought, its eventual decline didn’t diminish his personal achievement. I created this character to explore that notion.”
My Nadir
“I wrote the music in 2008 when I was at absolute breaking point but I was unable to put words to it until much later. Musically, this song is my favourite moment on the record, I don’t think I’ve ever come closer to presenting an emotion or feeling as music.”
A Personal Narrative Of Life At Sea Part II
“An indirect sequel to a song from Departures (2007). The title references Richard Henry Dana’s 1840 book Two Years Before The Mast. I took full advantage of having a room full of willing participants to create the choir heard humming and singing here. They elevate the song to some kind of epic sea shanty.”
Private Rooms
“An early version of this song was recorded in the abandoned 2009 sessions. I rewrote the final chorus in tribute to the loved ones who helped me through hard times and helped me make the record. “
Flowers
“The album finishes with me playing the classical guitar on which I wrote my first ever song. The same guitar which accompanied me across the States and on which most of this album was composed.”
The Ural Winter recounts my recovery from depression but equally the writing of the album and ultimately its recording were integral to that recovery. It’s ironic that for me, witnessing Linley Hamilton improvise his breathtaking trumpet solo during the recording of ‘My Nadir’, a song written during one of the lowest points in my life, surrounded by my friends, family and audience members, all of whom had come to help me achieve make something special, was one of the most overwhelming, wonderful moments of my life.
 
The Ural Winter is out now.