15/09/2025
Cor, look at these beauties. ParcelC15 is noe available to preorder from our Bandcamp page.
https://couriersound.bandcamp.com/album/forest-lore
Returning to Courier, composer and sound artist Paul Blackburn aka Yggdrasil, announces the release ofForest Lore, a new album shaped by personal memory, nature, and a tactile approach to sound design. Built from a palette of field recordings, piano loops, and modular textures, Forest Lore explores the emotional connection between sound and place, humans and nature.
“My process often starts with collecting sounds — walking through woods, standing on a windswept coast, recording the ambient world around me,” Paul explains. “These field recordings, along with fragments of piano and modular synths, become the raw material I sketch ideas from. I’m usually chasing a visual or emotional memory — how I felt in a certain place on a certain day.”
Much like carving or sanding wood, the creative process is hands-on and iterative. “The beginning of a track feels like a rough-cut piece of wood” He says “It takes going over it again and again — smoothing edges, shaping its form — until it feels right. The result is worn, imperfect, but deeply personal.”
For Forest Lore, Paul revisited material from his live modular performances, resampling and rebuilding each track in Ableton to create new, alternate studio versions. “I wanted to capture the spirit of live performance but translate it into something more intimate and reflective — something that still feels alive.”
Each track on Forest Lore exists in multiple forms, with variations emerging through repeated live sets. The album captures not just a single moment, but a living process — organic, evolving, and rooted in memory.
"Written across two autumns and winters, this album is a study of the seasons I hold dearest. While I love all the rhythms of the year, there's something about the shift into autumn and the hush of winter that stirs a need to slow down, hibernate, and create. The autumn equinox, in particular, always feels like a turning point—a time of quiet reflection.I hope it brings you a sense of that same comfort and introspection, like a walk through the woods in fading light, or the calm of a firelit room while the wind moves outside."
The cassette is presented in a bespoke cover individually cut from recycled card stock, with text and artwork inserts, a Courier sticker and released in a limited edition of 20.
Pre-release copies will be available directly from Paul on Saturday 20th as he’ll be playing live at the Woodbridge Ambient Music Festival, Suffolk (New Street Market venue).
