‘The Viaduct Love Suicide’ is the second single from Springtime’s self-titled debut album, out November 5
th via
TFS Records and
Joyful Noise Recordings.
Punk legend David Yow has this to say about it; “‘The Viaduct Love Suicide’ is a magnificent song, the lyrics originally penned by Gareth Liddiard’s Irish uncle, Ian Duhig. A true story of a woman in the UK who had an abusive husband and a disabled child. She jumped off a bridge with her son in her arms. The press were saying she was fucked for doing such a thing, so Ian wrote the poem showing she was not.”
Ian Duhig became a full-time writer after working with homeless people for fifteen years and has since published eight books of poetry, most recently his ‘New and Selected Poems’ from Picador, a Poetry Book Society Special Commendation for Winter 2021. Duhig has won the Forward Best Poem Prize once, the National Poetry Competition twice and has been shortlisted four times for the TS Eliot Prize. A Cholmondeley Award recipient and Fellow of the Royal Society of Literature.
“I wrote this in the style of the Japanese Love Suicide genre (the first two lines quote Chikamatsu’s ‘The Sonezaki Love Suicide’) partly because it is a tradition more forgiving of this desperate act, but mainly because the events inspiring it were so heartbreaking they overwhelmed my attempts to treat it more directly. I was working recently with an NHS employee, married to another NHS employee, trying to raise their autistic child. Despite being at the heart of this vast care organisation, the pressures of caring destroyed their marriage and led to her eventually jumping to her death with her child in her arms, who also died, at a beauty spot already too well-known for such sad departures. I have met many women NHS staff in danger of, or actually being on, a treadmill of caring at work and at home with their own needs crushed, sometimes with tragic results. This poem is dedicated to them, and to the memory of Helen Rogan.” Ian Duhig
Springtime is the culmination of three renowned, multidisciplinary musicians, each known for distinct styles and sounds. This new endeavour is as much a tonal experiment as it is a meditation on modern-day absurdity. Their self-titled debut combines elements of art-rock, experimental noise, poignant lyricism, free jazz and improvisation to craft austere portraits of a world paralyzed by shellshock.
Watch the clip for lead single ‘Will To Power’, another Matt McGuigan-directed clip.
Pre-order CD’s, vinyl & merch now.
Gareth Liddiard (The Drones, Tropical Fuck Storm), Jim White (Xylouris White, Dirty Three, PJ Harvey) and Chris Abrahams (The Necks) are Springtime.
