Selkie is the latest single from conceptual singer-songwriter Ebony Buckle’s upcoming album, Disco Lasers. Inspired by Norse, Celtic and Arctic Inuit folklore, the song tells a story of a Selkie; a mythical sea spirit who sheds its skin under the moonlight to dance on the shore.
This is the fourth chapter in Buckle’s album which is a collection of audio-visual stories that celebrate the wonders of our universe and how we as human beings make sense of our existence through folklore legends, science and our imagination.
The album is being released as singles each month, allowing the listener to join the journey and immerse themselves in a different story every time. So far she has released “Wonder”, “The Planet Who Believed” and “Who Remembers”, which have been featured in various publications including Earmilk, Rollingstone India and New Scientist.
“I grew up playing by and in the sea in Australia, the opposite side of the world from where the Selkie stories originated, but I’ve always felt connected to them through my love for the sea. Whenever I go near the ocean I feel a deep connection to the Earth and to myself.” says Ebony.
Recorded and produced by Nick Burns, Selkie, is the type of song you experience within yourself, as Ebony pulls you in with the story- a mortal boy falls in love with a selkie when he sees her under the moonlight, and even though years go by, he cannot forget the call of the wild, or ignore the desire to join her under the waves.
Starting off with haunting vocals and piano, the song is a testament to Ebony’s vocal mastery, she sounds captivating, exposed and yet powerful. As the song unfolds, Nick Burns’ vocals add a different layer, inviting the listener to hear the pleas of the boy and perhaps the ocean itself.
As with Ebony’s previous releases, the music video for Selkie was created by Luke Taylor and Sky Zhou. It depicts a strange sea creature returning to the sea after being away for too long. Filmed on the beaches in Norfolk (much colder than Ebony’s childhood beach trips) and in an actual water tank, it captures the essence of the story, that of a yearning, and a returning to the wild soul within us all.
Over the last year Buckle has been building a community of poetry and music lovers around her music, using the platform Patreon. Her patrons have given Buckle the complete freedom to create and share with us a body of work that is entirely independent. If you are interested in finding out more about Buckle’s world, we recommend her newsletter ‘letters from a strange planet’, which is sent out monthly and is filled with stories and news about the world she is creating.
