Rivers Of England - eight in the evening in spring EP (2021) Hi-Res

In early 2020, we were preparing to record our third album. When the pandemic took off we decided to continue with the recording project, but it forced us to change how we approached it.

The greater time at home coincided with good weather and a period of greater reflection had arrived. I live in a cottage in the woods and a two minute walk through the trees takes me to a river that opens out into a secluded lake. Each evening in the spring, I would take my guitar, mic, phone and chair to the riverbank and record the songs to a click track. Sitting in this environment and having more time changed how the songs developed - they had more of a classical singer songwriter feel to them as they had to work by the river in the first instance for them to be considered worthy of being on the EP. By the summer, we'd layered our parts on separately and found that this approach really suited our music. Come with me to the riverbank at eight in the evening in spring and let the songs mean whatever you want them to.