Third solo album from Irish-Australian sarode artist Matthew James Noone

Recorded in a rural cabin in the West of Ireland during COVID lockdown, innovative sarode artist, Matthew Noone, is releasing his third solo album, The Other Side of Knowing on November 6th 2020.

Matthew James Noone (who started his musical career playing guitar and drums in indie rock bands in Brisbane in the mid 90’s) is now recognised as Ireland's foremost exponent of the North Indian lute called sarode. He has studied Indian classical music with maestros Sougata Roy Chowdhury and K. Sridhar for over 15 years. He is renowned for his interpretations of Irish music on the instrument, and has toured India with Martin Hayes, released two albums with percussionist Tommy Hayes (An Tara), collaborates with Liam O Maonlai, guitarist Steve Cooney and has played at the prestigious Masters of Tradition Festival in Bantry. In recent years, he has been developing a reputation as a solo performer, composer and improviser using a custom built electroacoustic instrument dubbed ‘sarode na suíll’. He released his debut solo album ‘LET LUV B UR GURU’ in 2017 and the 2019 follow up ‘The Maghera Pony’ was described by SONGLINES as an’ eclectic mix of influences that come together to create a world of their own…a very satisfying listen’. He has mesmerised audiences across Europe, India and Australia at events such as Womad, Maleny Folk Festival, Dublin Fringe Festival, Chennai Global Music festival, Electric Picnic and Body n Soul.

The new album, ‘The Other Side of Knowing’ was recorded on Noone’s land in rural East Clare in a small cabin during COVID lockdown from April-June 2020. What initially began as a cathartic response to isolation was eventually shaped into an album with studio assistance from Seán Mac Erlaine . All the pieces began as exploratory improvisations and were handed over to Mac Erlaine to mix and tweak as he felt inspired. The result is a mixture of electroacoustic textures, thick drones, melancholy melodies, field recordings and experiments with feedback and voice. Noone describes the process: “The creation of this album was very intimate and personal during an emotionally intense period. Over the course of a few months, I experimented with many different ways of recording (using old mp3 recordings from my phone, different microphones and field recordings from my land) as well as exploring multiple sound production techniques on the sarode. I also experimented a lot with the music coding software called ChucK to create randomised patches which would process my improvisations. The idea was to try and access something more subconscious, a kind of unknowing, to try and make peace with complexity of my life situation but also this strange yet still beautiful world we live in. ”

The Other Side of Knowing was mixed and mastered with producer, Seán Mac Erlaine, and was created with assistance from the Irish Research Council. It will be officially released on 6th November 2020 and is available on cassette, CD, vinyl and download from https://matthewnoone.bandcamp.com/.