BBC Wildlife - UK 2020-07)

50 BBC Wildlife July 2020

“IwastravellingaroundLondon,feeling

increasinglypressured,”saysErlandCooper,

recallingthegenesisofhisfirstsoloalbum,

SolanGoose, eachtrackbearingtheOrcadian

namefora localbird.“Iwouldarriveat my

studiohavingheardnoisesandfrequencies

thatwerequiteaggressive,

thenreshapethemwitha

synth,a bitoftapeechoor

anambienttapeloop,tomake

a gentletone.Subconsciously,

theyweretransportingmetoa place

ofcomfort,a naturalenvironment,

anelementalenvironment:theywere

takingmebacktoOrkney.”

I

n otherwords,thismusicprovides

a doseofnatureinspotswhereit is

fardistant.“Natureis thetruereset,”

Erlandcontinues.“Itlevelsmetoa

placewhereI cangetsomeperspective,

getsomedistance.It’snotnostalgia– that’s

notwhatI’mtryingtodo.It’sjusttouching

ona memory.I’monlyevertryingto

captureanessenceofsomething.”

“Listeningtothiskindofmusic,youcan

loseyourselfinnature,”addsKitty.“One

questionis – doyouwantthat?Doyou

wantpeopletojustbeabletoexperience

natureintheirownlittlebubble?Isthat

dangerous,if it meanstheydon’tneedto

leavethecitytoaccessit?”

Thatpoint– thatperhapsnatureshouldn’t

besomething‘other’toescapeto,butpart

ofthematrixinwhichweco-exist– links

tothelatestprojectbyWilliamDoyle,the

electronicamaestroformerlyperformingas

East India Youth.Your Wilderness Revisited

is a paeantosuburbia,itsbirdsandbike

lanes,treesandtelegraphpoles,celebrating

humanconnectionsaswellasnaturalones.

Personally,thatstrikesa chord.Thebest

musicremindsusthatthewildworldis all

aroundus– intheallotmentdowntheroad,

asmuchasinOrkney.

Thatpeoplearewarmingtonatural

soundsis measurable.Lastyear,theRSPB’s

LetNatureSingcollaborationwithSamLee

reachednumber 18 intheUKsingleschart,

withmorethan23,000downloads.That’s

oneexampleofinnovativecombinations

ofgenresreachingfreshaudiences.And

nature-focusedfestivalssuchasTimber,

hostedbytheNationalForest,demonstrate

whata potentcombinationmusicand

wildlifecanbe.

“Wild,gowild,gowildinthecountry,”

intonedBowWowWowin1981.Sure,

dothat.Or,if it helps,justpluginyour

headphones. It’s the natural choice.

Talking

point

PAULBLOOMFIELDisanauthor

andjournalistwritingabout nature,

heritageandtravel.

“Natureisthetrue

reset.Itlevelsme

toaplacewhere

I cangetsome

perspective,get

somedistance.

It’snotnostalgia

• it’sjusttouching

on a memory.”

FINDOUTMOREListentothesongs

mentionedinthisfeatureviaBBCWildlife

curatedplaylistsonSpotify:bit.ly/bbcw-

natureand bit.ly/bbcw-environment

Left to right: MTV/Everett Collection/Alamy; Steve Owen/Alamy; Peter Marshall/Alamy

Left:newwave

bandBowWowWow

wantedtogowildin

the country. Middle:

KittyMacfarlane’s

lyricsandmelodies

evokenature.Right:

folk singer Sam Lee.