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CD
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NYAHH 027CD
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$21.50
PREORDER
RELEASE DATE: 9/4/2026
A blackbird at dawn inspired a living score: Natalia Beylis' work, Around Here, The Birds Plant The Trees, is a 52-minute longform journey about land stewardship grown from the sounds and textures of a single field in Leitrim, Ireland. This recording captures the piece as it existed on Friday 12 December 2025. Largely known for her solo instrumental work and her sound collage work, Around Here, The Birds Plant The Trees marks her first piece written for an ensemble. Developed with and performed by Ailbhe Nic Oireachtaigh (Viola), Eimear Reidy (Cello), Tóla Custy (Fiddle), Ultan O'Brien (Viola), and Willie Stewart (Percussion) with Natalia conducting. The acoustic music in this recording is the sound of a field and the sky full of life from dawn till dusk. Each note and pause evokes the rhythms of growth, decay and regeneration, inviting audiences to hear the land and its inhabitants as active participants in the music. With this instrumental piece, Natalia hopes to highlight issues around land guardianship that personally affect both her and the land where she lives. Specifically, issues related to the detrimental effects of monocultural commercial forestry. Through strings and percussion Around Here, The Birds Plant The Trees captures this interplay between personal stewardship, natural agency, and industrial impact. The rustle of beetles in the hedgerow, the squeak of a leaning Sitka spruce, a lone curlew's call -- these became the pulse and melody of the composition. Birds, squirrels, wind, and human hands act as co-composers, inspiring a shifting soundworld of oaks, saplings, and human heartbeats. This is a piece about listening to the land, its past and possible futures, and your own place within it.
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LP
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TOUCH 027LP
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A few years after her stand-out contribution to Touch Sensitive's Wacker That compilation and following a bunch of purple patch releases for Nyahh Records, TakuRoko, Fort Evil Fruit and Eiderdown Records, Natalia Beylis graces Touch Sensitive with a true landmark album for the label -- Mermaids. Recorded both at home in Leitrim and at neighbor Mat Warren's studio, Mermaids was inspired by two salvaged items: a CRB Elettronica Ancona - Model: Diamond 708 E electric keyboard from the local tip, and a photo taken by her father found in a pile of old family scraps. Smuggled home in the back of the van and ridded of the nine purple crayons lodged inside, the keyboard sounded perfect to Natalia. The striking image which would become the cover art features Natalia's mother and two friends during a dip in the ocean. After testing compositions and recordings for months on the rescued keys, the discovery of her father's image formed the final work. Much like the push and pull of the River Shannon, Natalia's own local swimming spot, Mermaids flow is both organic but unstoppable. Alongside the keyboard's glistening tone, field recordings from Natalia's expansive archive bring listeners back up for air; taking stops to check in with the chittering chickens and ducks of Athlone. In keeping with her back catalogue and extensive body of work, Mermaids exists within its own imagined universe. This is truly singular work that continues to underline Natalia as one of the finest underground artists of her time.
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