A modern twist on a rock song telling a story of the struggles of being a young adult in 2021.

21st Century

Fintan McKahey returns with a new single “Lost Balloons” on date. The lo-fi acoustic song is emotive and nostalgic, featuring Fintan’s signature smoky vocals and pristine production. A mellow beat is met with layered guitars and ambient sounds. 
In this song, Fintan reflects on how the pressures of modern life can get overwhelming. If this past year has taught us anything, it’s that things aren’t always within our control.
Fintan says, “Lost Balloons is an ode to the slow life, a gentle reminder to take a breath and let life unfold at its own pace. Letting go can be the most liberating feeling there is.”
The song was recorded and produced by Fintan in his newly built space, Ivy Hill Studios.

Lost Balloons

A response to the pandemic.
‘Steps’ represents a distillation of the sensory experiences felt by an older citizen, after their world further contracts under lockdown.

STEPS ~ a poem

Vocal by Fionnuala Harkin
Music: Stephen Housden
Lyrics: Frank Howson

Valentine Lover (feat. Fionnuala Harkin)

Oud, Dudek, Bendir, Darbouka, Finger Cymbals.

Averroes

Coloured In

Full context and poem text: https://www.brainpickings.org/2017/04/27/janna-levin-reads-planetarium-by-adrienne-rich/

Recorded at "The Universe in Verse," April 24, 2017.

Photograph of Janna Levin by Molly Walsh / Academy of American Poets

POEM TEXT / CONTEXT

Astrophysicist Janna Levin reads "Planetarium" by Adrienne Rich

Gilan

LYRICS:

I’m fucking scared, I don’t know which way to look right or left
I feel it in the air, It cuts through me like there’s blood everywhere
Not my hand on yours, my body that’s sure
How can you stand with your red tie smirk, you watch millions die until you make it work

We don’t understand your lies, cause you tell them so,
You change your story so you’ll make some dough,
You cut right through with deceit so deep,
How can people trust you...

I can’t sleep, I can’t, I can’t, I can’t sleep

You’re fucking scared now,
How does it feel to be one of us, how does it feel to be powerless? (welcome to the majority)

People are dying who never died before, and you think you're trying like you never tried before

We don’t understand your lies, cause you tell them so,
You change your story so you’ll make some dough,
You cut right through with deceit so deep,
How can people trust you...

I can’t sleep, I can’t, I can’t, I can’t sleep

Trumpy don’t fuck with me I don’t understand your vocabulary,
I don’t see why you lie to me, or him, or her, or LGBT
It’s not just me its bureaucracy, how do you choose business over your family?

I can’t sleep, I can’t, I can’t, I can’t sleep
I can’t sleep, I can’t, I can’t, I can’t sleep

RIA RUA - I Can't Sleep

DARK SAND

Alison Glennie is a British actor and cross-disciplinary artist residing in West Cork, Ireland. She entered the Arts world as a child actor, working in film and television in the UK. More recently she has been working as a voice artist, recording many programmes for RTE Radio One.

As an artist/facilitator, Alison produced ‘Opportunities’ in 2019; a short documentary film for The Brothers of Charity, Bandon. A group of service users were directly involved in the film making process. The project was supported by Cork Co Co Arts. Alison has made several films for Cope Foundation, an organisation which supports the lives of adults with intellectual disability. 

'Point of Departure: A Lament' is a short performance art film, which documents a live event, experienced by the Skibbereen Arts Festival audience in 2017. This ephemeral, site-responsive performance, which honoured the ancestors and spirit of place, was devised and produced by Alison and was the inaugural show at the striking Reen Farm Sculpture Garden in West Cork; a townland once ravaged by An Gorta Mor. The event was kindly hosted by artists John and Christina Kelly, who had invited Alison to create a performative work for this historically significant land at Reen, near Skibbereen. The film was included in the programme of events for Coming Home: Art and the Great Hunger at Uillinn: West Cork Arts Centre and screened at several international film festivals in addition to Indie Cork(Irl), Beara(Irl), Hebden Bridge(UK) "It was like being inside a dream." - Sarah Horgan, Evening Echo, Cork. Honourable Mention at HIFF (Russia).

Alison facilitated Drama Club workshops for children at Uillinn: West Cork Arts Centre for over 20 years. She introduced participants to works exhibited within the gallery space, using these as a springboard for the children’s imaginative processes. Embracing a multi-disciplinary approach, several artists in residence were invited to collaborate with her in delivering sessions during their residency term. 

‘STEPS’, a poetry film made in 2021, is Alison's response to the global pandemic. It represents a distillation of the sensory experiences felt by an older citizen, after their world further contracts under lockdown. First published in Atticus Review. Official selection at Absurd Art House film festival (UK), REELpoetry/HoustonTX (USA), Vesuvius (Italy). 

Emerging once again, from the silence and isolation of lockdown in 2021, she appeared as Muriel in the 'Coast Road' film, an Indie production directed by Brian Stynes at Hard Bargain Pictures. It was shot on location in West Cork. "Alison Glennie as Muriel is superb, with a more nuanced and subtle performance, as a lonely character who likes to gossip at times." - Jason Delgado, Film Threat review (USA).

Alison enjoyed voicing surrealist dance artist Tilly Losch in the poetry film 'Because Goddess is Never Enough'. This production was a collaboration between award winning UK artists, the poet Rosie Garland and poetry filmmaker Jane Glennie. 'Because Goddess is Never Enough' is a unique evocation of one woman’s creative life and by extension the lives of so many creative women throughout time.” - Marie Craven, Moving Poems.This film is currently screening at international film festivals and UK arts festivals, winning Best Video Art at Women in Cinema Festival (Spain)in 2023.
 
Alison was glad to have the opportunity to receive the TAP training and has enjoyed delivering several artist residencies in both primary and post primary schools in 2022. BLAST is an Arts-in-Education Residency Programme managed by West Cork Education Centre and funded by the Department of Education and Creative Ireland. A short film 'Having a BLAST at Kilgarriffe National School', documents the activities and hybrid approach employed by her in the delivery of the BLAST programme at the national school. It is viewable on Alison Glennie's Vimeo channel. Alison continues to deliver drama workshops as part of the BLAST programme in 2023.

STEPS ~ a poem

Alison Glennie at Alisong

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