Emerging from the remote, windswept tip of West Wales, Rona Mac continues to build towards her upcoming second album ‘Honeymilk and Heavy Weather’ with the elegant and intimate new single ‘Buttercup’.
Having recently supported the likes of Willy Mason, Billie Marten, Katy J Pearson, Bess Atwell, and Dan Mangan, Rona Mac is riding a high following support across national radio. ‘Buttercup captures exactly what makes her so special with a track that feels at once raw, unfiltered, and rooted alternative-folk, but captures a nostalgia, a warmth and a vulnerable sense of fragility.
Built completely around a gently finger picked acoustic guitar and Mac’s enticing, tender, unprocessed vocals, theres a sense of sincerity and simplicity give the track a captivating allure comparable to Bon Iver’s ‘For Emma, Forever Ago’.
Talking about the track, Rona Mac shares: The recording is a little rough because, well, it just is. I recorded it on a dictaphone and there is emotion in that specific take, so I left it how it is. Simple.
There’s some simple beauty in a buttercup. A fleeting, yellow joy reflected onto chins, old and young, as you conclude that yes, indeed, we do like butter. This song was written during a time when I was simultaneously reeling from grief and giddy from falling in love. In my experience, when people die life gets crisper, more tangible and valuable and fragile. I was holding a new love in my arms with the fresh re-acknowledgement that everything is temporary. Amongst the turmoil of emotion, it made simple things, like buttercups, all the more special. And I think buttercups have kind faces, don’t you?
This song definitely leans into my folk singer-songwriter roots, and it will be a book-end to the album released on October 11th.”
The upcoming album Honeymilk and Heavy Weather on October 11th. funded by PRS Foundation, Help Musicians, and Horizons Launchpad (Arts Council Wales), the album is the culmination of three years of writing and recording, during which Mac poured her heart into every note. It’s a record dedicated to a lost friend, tackling themes of love, loss, mental illness, and grief.
Listen to beautiful the new single below:
