The other day we were scanning some of our favoured artist Facebook pages for any new music we may have missed, and in the process stumbled across the following statement on John Talabot‘s page…
“These last three years we’ve been working really hard in Hivern Discs, setting a professional but spontaneous model of label, trying to be fresh and surprising, avoiding cliches and trying to release music from artists that feel comfortable with our label and our way of working. We’ve been really lucky with everyone involved so far and thankful to every artist that has trusted in us. But today is a specially rewarding day because Hivern Discs is releasing Dorisburg – Irrbloss, his first album. Alex, as a good friend and amazing musician, has done something really special for his first LP, a record which is sonically emotional and melodically haunting, well produced and carefully crafted from the first beat to the last bit of melody. I’m really proud that he has chosen Hivern Discs to put it out. This is special music from a really special person and musician. I hope you like it as much as I do”
Normally when reading such statements our cynical side tends to get the better of us, ever read a PR statement that doesn’t attempt a similar level of sentiment? we haven’t. Having said that, there are certain voices out there that can be trusted, they’re quite rare, but they can be found. But who are these people and how can we know they are trustworthy when our physical contact is often little more than a retweet or a like at the best of times. The simple answer is time and an unwavering strength of conviction, i.e you need to have a willingness to understand, nuture and not relinquish your own personal principles, even when intoxicating hype and the promise of a fast buck are bearing down on you like a hungry grizzly. Integrity is key, and if you have it, chances are you’ll spot it in others.
One such example is the author of the above statement ‘John Talabot’. You only have to listen to the consistently meticulous quality of his own music, to know that this is an individual who has a strength of conviction worth trusting. Put it this way he’s probably at a level now where he gets numerous dizzyingly attractive remix or collaboration offers from some of the worlds brightest lights, but has he ever shamelessly cashed his chips and become a belieber of the hype? No. Therefore its fair to say that our initial trepidation at the above statement was perhaps overly cynical and upon following the link and checking the music in question, grossly unfounded. Dorisburg – Irrbloss is a joy to behold and every bit as good as Talabot suggests.