These are very strange times. All of us are stuck at home with seemingly no end in sight to the current restrictions that are being imposed by the Covid-19 pandemic. Cabin fever is starting to settle in for a lot of people as they try to entertain themselves in means other than staring a rectangles all day. It seems, however, that people are rising to the challenge, with creatives in a variety of different walks of media and art coming up with novel ways to fill their time and stay connected to their fans. Another music group who have decided to involve their fans in the creative process are Waterford/Kilkenny six-piece, In The Willows.

The group indie folk/pop group first formed in 2011, and since then they have been building a strong reputation as on one of the stand out acts in their field. The group, consisting of Daithí Glas (lead vocals, guitar, harmaphone), Tara Heffernan (lead vocals and piano), John Madigan (backing vocals, piano, bouzouki), Rowan Sherlock (backing vocals, violin, viola), Mícheál de Grás (backing vocals, bass, mandolin, violin), and Paul O’Shea (drums and percussion), have a number of well received releases to their name already, as well as a host of festival appearances at the likes of Electric Picnic and Indiependence Music & Arts Festival, as well as numerous other esteemed stages.

The most recent release from the group, Talking To Myself, is testament to the ever developing sound of the group and the enterprise of people that is shown to be present during the pandemic.

The music video for the song is made up of a selection of home videos sent in by fans of the band to show the different ways that people are keeping themselves busy during the lockdown. Each clip stands to represent a different aspect of our lives that we all miss since we couldn’t do it anymore, from seeing people that mean something to you, messing around with friends, sports and physical activities (it was nice to see that I’m not the only one missing hurling so much), and just have a life outside the four walls of your house. It is a powerful message, but also something that will help to solidify the resolve of people who can see clearly that we’re all in this together.

Stay safe.

MK