I’ve always said that a good instrumental can evoke feeling and emotions without the need for words, and the instrumental band follow always manages this effortlessly. Their new single ‘Cherry Blossoms in the Front Yards, Forever’ has a power and impact that will leave you speechless, even from the poignant title alone.
follow’s style and delivery has always been laden with atmosphere and emotion – one that I have in past reviews linked with the geography and climate of the southern isle of Lutruwita/Tasmania: wild, raw and heart-breakingly beautiful (see my review of their 2023 debut album here). A new album is on the way, and the band will be releasing the first single, ‘Cherry Blossoms in the Front Yards, Forever’ on Thursday.
The inspiration for the song and title stems from a great tragedy that echoed around the small island with the passing of band member Thomas Busby’s niece. In Busby’s words:
My brother and his wife planted a cherry blossom at the front of their house after the loss of their daughter Maeve, who was with us for only 5 short days.
I’m not a homeowner as of yet. But I do know what I’ll be planting in my front yard when I am.
I like the idea of when my brother and his family see the flower bloom it’s like Maeve has popped down to check-in on them and say hello. Good thoughts are tough to come by in sad times.
A few plucked guitar notes aren’t going to take much of the sting out of losing Maeve. But I had her on my mind, as I often do, while I had a guitar in my lap one evening. And after a few months of the usual late night tedium that comes with writing, recording, and mixing a follow song, this is what I ended up with.
It is the great beauty and power of art that it can attempt to salve pain without needing an explanation or a fix, and ‘Cherry Blossoms in the Front Yards, Forever’ stands as an exquisite elegy where every note bleeds emotion, the delicate guitars shredding your emotions.
It is quite put a stunning piece of music even without the knowledge of its inspiration. And yet as the piece develops and builds up with a swell, ebbing and flowing like the Antarctic-chilled tides, there is a breath of hope and resilience; epitomised by the eponymous blossoming tree that signifies regrowth and renewal.
Out through the ever brilliant False Peak Records, the track is out on Thursday and will be available via all the usual download and streaming sites and here. The track was written, recorded and mixed by Thomas Busby, co-produced by Spiro Noutsatous and mastered by Donnie Miller with art by Lucas Walker.
follow will be embarking on a national tour with We Lost The Sea – details below.
Feature Photograph: Sam Cooper
[…] follow were first on stage, and once again proved their astonishing abilities with a set comprising material from their debut album, Old Haunts alongside new single, Cherry Blossoms in the Front Yards, Forever (reviewed on Backseat Mafia here). […]