And So I Watch You From Afar - Megafauna - LP Gatefold

An all-encompassing aural assault, a force as unstoppable and fiercely alive as the tide. The post-rock powerhouse known as AND SO I WATCH YOU FROM AFAR have returned with their 7th studio album, ‘Megafauna’.

A tribute to the two places the collective call home, their beloved Portrush on the Irish North Coast and the beating heart that is Belfast; ‘ Megafauna’ is headstrong exploration and heartfelt appreciation with all the intuition, intimacy and humour of four firm friends approaching their 20th year as a band.

Like so many other bands and creatives throughout the pandemic, ASIWYFA found themselves suddenly stationary, with any plans outside of their immediate vicinity put on indefinite hold. However, where this might have seen other acts falter, ASIWYFA took comfort in their communal bond and, as soon as they were able, began writing a record that quickly became a love letter to the communities they call home. “‘Megafauna’ is essentially a distilled moniker for our peers,” says guitarist Rory Friers, “all of the friends and characters that we’ve grown up with who’ve made us and our homes what they are today. Lockdown was an intensely introspective and reflective process, which put the comfort of community at the forefront of our minds.”

The intent behind ‘Megafauna’ is clear from the outset. Two guitars, bass and drums all recorded in a week erupt into effervescent life in an endorphin rush of collaboration and togetherness after the physical and psychological wilderness of isolation. Lead single ‘Do Mór’ is a preposterously playful collision of light-hearted guitar hooks, effortless jazz syncopation and the triumphant return of ASIWYFA’s inimitable wall-of-sound distortion, whilst opening track ‘North Coast Megafauna’ serves as an anthem for the whole album and perhaps for a band reinvigorated too; proudly wearing the joyously jarring confrontation of their sound on their sleeves.

Elsewhere on ‘Megafauna’, introspection and sombre sentimentality take centre stage with the downtempo ‘Years Ago’ providing remarkable dynamic depth that speaks to a band approaching two decades together whilst the moments of calm on ‘Button Days’ are interspersed with cacophonous blasts reminiscent of the unbridled energy on ASIWYFA’s earliest material.

‘Megafauna’ is the band’s first new music since 2022’s critically-acclaimed ‘Jettison’, an ambitious multi-media ensemble piece packed full of experimentation and collaboration. Jokingly referring to ‘Jettison’ as the band’s “mature record”, guitarist Niall Kennedy frames the writing of ‘Megafauna’ around the band’s long-running mantra of ‘DO THE SCARY THING’ which sees them constantly hurtling towards newness, towards progress, evolution and the unknown. Whilst the new record is ASIWYFA taking on a more familiar, traditional form; in this post-’Jettison’, post-pandemic world ‘Megafauna’ is a deafening and defiant statement of intent from the band’s propulsive core - a clarion call for the communities that shape them, a resplendent celebration of togetherness over separation.