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Clouds in the Sky They Will Always Be There for Me on CD

All the songs started out as poems," says Margolin of the work that

became Clouds In The Sky They Will Always Be There For Me (2024), "I wanted

to challenge myself." In a song, Dana argues, the writer can always hide

behind the tricks of the music and well-worn techniques such as repetition. "In

a poem, though," says Dana, "it's just words and that's it." Recorded in the

Somerset countryside in early 2024 by longtime Big Thief and Laura Marling

engineer Dom Monks, Clouds In The Sky They Will Always Be There For Me is

Porridge Radio's new album and first new music in two years. The UK band's

new album is a coming-of-age moment inspired by burnout, the music

industry, the brutal collapse of a relationship and - crucially - Dana's own

increasing immersion in her craft as an artist.

"A lot of this album is about a more frenetic and desperate kind of

love," says Dana, "it is about completely losing my sense of self in a

relationship, and the deep residue of insecurity and pain that lingered and

clouded a new relationship." Songs that were written as love songs - like In A

Dream I'm A Painting - took on new meanings as Margolin viewed the songs

with a new distance. "There was a lot of love and confusion, all interspersed

with exhaustion and pain."

The Clouds sessions took place in Frome as Winter melted into early

Spring at the beginning of 2024. "There were a few breakdowns," grins Dana,

in a fair assessment of recording such intimate and personal songs, "after

some takes I would just collapse on the floor, so upset." An environment was

fostered where Dana could express herself and be nurtured. "We would have

these big communal meals every night," she says, "it felt very close knit and

caring and warm and special."Our little house looked over a big hill,"

remembers Dana, "there was a river running through it, it was big and bright

and beautiful." The studio itself was bright - full of beaming natural light from

the large windows, a blessing for musicians used to the sealed tomb world of

most recording studios, and for once the band were all able to record in the

same room as the producer.

Today, Dana reflects on Clouds In The Sky They Will Always Be There

For Me with the enthusiasm of a real creative breakthrough. "It feels like the

first time we've made something," she explains, audibly delighted at the

album, "it captured something about our friendship and the way that we have

learnt to play together. I love the songs, I love playing them, they haven't

gotten old and it feels like it's a special thing." A pause. "It's taught me so

much. Following your gut to the nth point, trusting your friends and their

loyalty, trusting to be able to fight with people properly. How I want to live is

how I want to make records, because making records is my life because my

work is my play is my job is my life. It all ties together in this thing, and there

are ways to do this that might not kill me.