Many of us can link a certain album to pivotal moments in our lives. Whether it’s the first record you bought with your own money, the chord you first learnt to play on guitar, the song that soundtracked your first kiss, the album that got you those awkward and painful pubescent years or the one that set off light bulbs in your brain and inspired you to take a big leap of faith into the unknown – music is often the catalyst for change in our lives and can even help shape who we become.
In this Love Letter To A Record series, Music Feeds asks artists to reflect on their relationship with music and share with us stories about the effect music has had on their lives.
Jack Carty – Nick Drake, Pink Moon, (1972)
Dear Pink Moon,
My mum was right. She bought me a copy of you on CD when I was about 23 years old. You’d been one of her favourites in the ’70s when you were brand-new and being largely ignored. I was in a weird place, I’d just broken up with a girl, moved out of my house and quit my job to do music full-time. It wasn’t a bad place, just a strange one – like being at a party where I didn’t know anyone. I am not sure if it was an off-the-cuff gift, a simple, “I love this, so I am sharing it with you”; or if it was more targeted like she knew you’d do me some good at that point in time. Either way, you did. And you still do.
There is something so captivating about your intimate simplicity in a world brimming with production tracks and hedged bets, where (sonically at least) almost anything is possible. Your smokey voice, open-tuned guitar and shy delivery give me a stillness that is hard to find, and that I long for from time to time. Because of this, and the sheer beauty of your songs, I have carried you with me across ten years of touring, falling in love, moving overseas, returning home, and now becoming a parent.
You were there with me walking home to a bed shared with my manager (to save money) from my first ever showcase, at South By South West in Austin, Texas. You were walking aimlessly around Cambridge some Saturday morning of my first ever UK tour; and on the platform of Camden Town Station, on The Northern Line, when we first made the move to London.
Nowadays you are there in the early mornings, when my son and I walk around the house opening the curtains, listening to the birds, and getting ready for the day.
You are quiet beauty in a loud and garish world. I’m excited to see where we go next.
Love,
Jack
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Listen to Jack Carty’s second single ‘Don’t Believe The Hype’ from his forthcoming album ‘Wake To A Bright Morning’!
