Following the announcement that her forthcoming album, ‘A Dark Murmuration of Words’, will be released on 4th September on Thirty Tigers, acclaimed UK based singer-songwriter Emily Barker has today released the video for beautifully biting new track, ‘Where Have The Sparrows Gone?’. The track as well as ‘The Woman Who Planted Trees’ are also available as a single bundle HERE.
The reflective song looks outside an apartment window and imagines a post-apocalyptic, birdless London; sensitively directed by Tom Jacob, the video focuses on a family’s search for closure as a powerful metaphor for the loss of species and destruction of natural environments.
“Over the last few decades the Sparrow has gone from being one of the world’s most common and widespread birds to being Red Listed as a species of high conservation concern,” Emily reflects. “When writing the song, my thoughts returned to the sparrows outside my window – how sad it would be to look out and not see and hear their vibrant movement and chatter. I hope that day never comes.”
Emily’s last album ‘Sweet Kind of Blue’ was recorded at Sam Phillips Recording Service in Memphis with Grammy-winning producer Matt Ross-Spang (Jason Isbell, Margo Price). The success of the album and the globe-trotting tours to support it helped land Emily the accolade of UK Artist of the Year at the 2018 UK Americana Awards held at Hackney Empire in London.
She is perhaps best known as the writer and performer of the award-winning theme to BBC crime drama Wallander starring Kenneth Branagh. She has released music as a solo artist as well as with various bands including The Red Clay Halo, Vena Portae and Applewood Road and has written for film, including composing her first feature film soundtrack (for Jake Gavin’s lauded debut feature Hector starring Peter Mullan and Keith Allen).
