Alpine Skies, the Dublin duo of Kevin Homan and Darren Farrell, discovered instant creative chemistry that unfolds into their debut album arriving early next year. The evocative, layered collection takes shape through wide skies, still landscapes, and inner journeys. Earning praise from Hot Press, Pure M Zine, The Beat, Red FM, Dublin City FM, and Duran Duran’s Simon Le Bon on Whooosh! on Sirius XM, Alpine Skies fuses cinematic textures with raw lyricism, weaving stories of distance, reconnection, memory, and rebirth.
Self-produced and recorded with Sean Hurley at Little Bear Studios in Dublin, “Blockks” was mastered by Gabe Wolf in his LA home studio. The track features Gavin Fox and Paul ‘Binzer’ Brennan on bass and drum recording duties, as with the band’s previous releases “By Your Side” and “Walls”. The collective gathered round the microphone with Sean Hurley and Sheena Stynes to record layer upon layer of ambient, breathy vocals for the song’s outro chorus refrain, creating a collective awakening that solidifies the overall theme.
“Blockks” came together from the band’s early writing sessions. “While working on another track the song’s main guitar hook just presented itself, with those infectious, lingering notes evoking growth and progress through each phrasing. Simply put, it is a reflection of life, both musically and lyrically, for the band,” they explain. The song grows from the outset with the constant piano note as the heartbeat, the delicate guitar line both alluring and threatening in its approach, and a bubbling, unsettling sub-bass line that underpins everything.
“The increasing intensity of the drumming, and the lyrical angst with this modern world, reflect on overcoming adversity and challenges in life. That development of your inner voice, providing a backbone, and enabling one to find clarity and purpose, the drenching of guitars are that purpose realised,” they continue. The song’s final lyric reflects on the twisted humor within life, with the pursuit of awareness remaining clear. The main theme centers on that feeling of being at odds with the modern world while seeking to find justice, clarity, and purpose, abandoning any hyper-consumerism nature for a more valuable people and relationships focused happiness.