Pat Barrett (Arrivalists) – A Year in Music – 2025

How has your year been? 

The year has brought so many different challenges for many. I think we face huge issues as a society, but I try to avoid the noise these days. The creative mind is prone to wander, so I’m always mindful to keep that in check. I am grateful for what I have and who I have in my circle.

Are you happy with how the couple of albums on Bandcamp turned out?

I really am. I removed all the Hedge Schools albums and the Arrivalists’ work from Spotify, and I did that for all the right reasons. A race to the bottom with a billionaire funding drone research to drop bombs on children. My work has no place in that fucking cesspit.

I put out 2 records – This Is Not Yours To Take, dedicated to my beautiful Louise and the instrumental record From A Piano In Bergen. I am really proud of that one. The piano record was never intended; it just manifested itself onto my phone in unannounced moments. Losing the darling Niall Crumlish this year was a kick to the throat.  I vowed to myself to just keep making work and to just keep putting it out.

What albums have you enjoyed most this year?

Where to start, really,

I thought Brian Mooney’s {The Next New Low} album, The Unreachable, was just stunning; it brought me to places with its simplicity. Stunning

The For Those I Love album Carving the Stone is the most visceral interpretation of where we are as a society and what a stagnation of successive political dynasties has created. It made me angry, it made me think, it made me want to try harder.

Will Stratton’s Points Of Origin was a beautiful, warm companion of a record for many book-reading evenings.

Old Segotia from Sean MacErlaine and Caoimhin O’Raghallaigh is a beautiful reminder of how wonderful music can sound when recorded by craftsmen. It reminded me so much of the sonics Joe could create when we did The Hedge Schools records.

The Shieling by Fergus McCreadie, a jazz composer from Scotland. A record recorded on an Island in the Scottish Hebrides. Again, a pristine-sounding record.

The Paul Page and Dave Long Sentimental Tourists project was a wonderful return to the equal brilliance of both.

The Poor Creature album, The Carol Keogh {The Wicc} project, her second album as The Wicc – Lycanthropy.

What’s the most promising new act you’ve heard this year?

I was late to it, but the Jacob Alon record was beautiful.

Any gig highlights?

Out and out highlight Gillian Welch and David Rawlings in Vicar Street.

Can you recommend an album that doesn’t get the recognition it deserves-

Epic45 – May Your Heart Be the Map

What inspires you these days?

Nature. The people still fighting for change. I think we are on the cusp of something breaking. Catherine Connolly’s landslide was inspiring. We can hope, can’t we? So hope inspires me.

Anything interesting in the works yourself?

I’m not putting myself under any pressure this year. We are hoping to buy a house, so making music can take a back seat for a while, I think. That said, if an itch arrives, I may scratch it.