It’s surely a landmark moment in any songwriter or composer’s career when they’re tasked with creating a soundtrack for film or TV. Recently, that role fell to Edinburgh-based guitarist and singer-songwriter Cathal Murphy. Commissioned to create the soundtrack to Amazon Prime’s Reavey Brothers starring Dylan Llewellyn (Derry Girls), Murphy wrote ‘Ever Since We Were Young’, a spell-binding track that combines ambient electronics with indie-folk songwriting. It’s highly reminiscent of artists like Imogen Heap, Damien Rice, Bon Iver and James Blake.
‘Ever Since We Were Young’ really does evoke that intimate sense of family and brotherhood, as well as touching on the more sombre moments of the film via the mellow vocal delivery and soothing lullaby-esque melodies. There’s plenty of space for nostalgic reflection as well, because Murphy provides that amongst the meditative sustained synths that possess an ethereal, floating quality.
It’s evident that Murphy has taken great care in piecing together a soundtrack that compliments Reavey Brothers‘s complex storyline. Interestingly, it was written over the course of the filming period, so that Murphy could reactively write something to capture the tragedy and loss that came from the infamous murders of the three young Reavey Brothers in their hometown of Whitecross, Armagh – a small village in Northern Ireland in 1976. It’s safe to say that that’s some unique inspiration and the result is the stunning ‘Ever Since We Were Young’.
You can also listen to ‘Ever Since We Were Young’ in our Folk This Way playlist.
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