Track Of The Day: Joshua Burnside & Laura Quirke – 'Far Away The Hills Are Green'

The latest single from Joshua Burnside and Laura Quirke's (Lemoncello) forthcoming EP, 'Far Away The Hills Are Green', is full of wide-eyed wistfulness – a daydream told from the perspective of a couple lying on the sofa envisaging greener pastures, wanting what they can't have.

Burnside and Quirke – their innate vocal blend is at its absolute best here – take turns to lyrically lament the ironic relationships between Irish escapism and American paddywhackery.

"'Far Away The Hills Are Green' is a song written as a kind of companion piece to Laura's 'Taking the Wheel' - borrowing themes of youth, longing, and Irish weather," Burnside explains. "The demo was recorded at my studio and ended up being the actual recording used, with layers of Laura's vocals added later.

"It charts the thought process of longing for a better life, something like the glamorous and sunnier Californian lifestyles they see on their TV, to realising that everywhere people are basically longing for the same thing - to fill some unfillable emptiness inherent in us all."

Hinging on banjo flourishes and acoustic keys, their gentle, floating voices walk the line between traditional Irish folk and Americana. Recorded in Burnside's studio in East Belfast, the track carries all the typical DIY ethos of his unique production style.

"I jumped at the chance to hang out and record and be in Belfast," Quirke says of the experience. "So when travel was freer last September, we spent a couple of days recording and throwing shapes in the studio. While I was there, ‘In the Half-light’ happened by accident. After that, it seemed that while we thought that we were helping each other out for our retrospective projects, actually we were making something that we would release together."

Listen to the song below.