OLD I N K Hello friends. Old Ink was recorded half in the suburbs of Cardiff and half at Tregydd Farm, Pembrokeshire by Callum Duggan. Old Ink is a return to Little Arrow’s beginnings, once again embracing the acoustic style. Creatively the collection of songs came together with the help of Rich, Dan, Ben and Callum. The approach was to react to the music as it developed, rather than write all the parts together. As such, takes were recorded early on during the sessions with the players each adding their own individual creative flourishes, layer upon layer. And so we feel what we have here is an honest, no frills offering to ear-kind. I hope that these songs will immerse you in the landscape of the moment.
This zine is a collection of works created by artists, illustrators, photographers, fans and band members in response to songs and lyrics from our back catalogue. We thank you all for your contributions. It would not have been possible without your talent. William Hughes
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There is no escape now from your physical The jealousy which helps us feast on all Is bursting from the waters and those souls unseen The many years in common now breaking May we land and receive, every chance is free
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P6 Carys Fletcher Medicine Moon “Gave us some lunar dust served on a spoon. We drank it down with our tea” carys.fletcher@outlook.com P7 Helen Smith Medicine Moon “Gave us some lunar dust served on a spoon. We drank it down with our tea” helensmith123@gmail.com P8 Ian Cooke Tapia Wash “And you were buried in the wash, this tide will gently rise” cookedillustrations@gmail.com P9 Lester Duggan War Drones “Gather yourself and gather your spears” lesterdugganillustration@gmail.com P10 Rhiannon Parnis Vessels Of Fear “For we are vessels of fear, vessels of fear and we’re leaving” rhiannon.parnis@gmail.com P11 Rose Wilkinson Your Catch Is Silver “Heal now for the bad is gone, spread out for your catch is silver” rose.wilkinson@rocketmail.com P12 Sam - Wasp Elder Government Bodies “Breaching the peace and deciding the limits of your home” colourdoomd@gmail.com
P13 Ben Lloyd Our Taste is Violence “Our taste is violence, I don’t know what to do. So I learnt how to sing out loud” benlloyd123@hotmail.com P14 Ben Sharpe War Drones “The roots have been ripped, the land has been cleared. There’s blood for everybody, blood for all and one” bensharpe@me.com P16 William Hughes Bitten Blues “My thoughts have not been seized by the men” willhugheswill@hotmail.com P17 William Hughes Lead Us Now “The truth’s out. You and me been shaking forward” willhugheswill@hotmail.com P18 Jack Oliver Coles Medicine Moon “Saw the astronauts dancing with antidote tears” jackolivercoles@outlook.com P19 Thomas Rolfe Medicine Moon “Went for a walk on the medicine moon” thomasrolfe@hotmail.co.uk
P21 Danielle Dutton Poetically “The bear and the lion eat every being they choose” danielle.a.dutton@gmail.com P22 William Hughes Earth Skin “Put me to bed, in the skin of the earth” willhugheswill@hotmail.com P24 Livi Gregory Medicine Moon “Went for a walk on the medicine moon” livi_gregory@yahoo.co.uk P26 Rich Chitty One Helium Balloon “There is only one universal helium balloon” rich@ctrl-alt-design.co.uk
The Players: William Hughes - Vocals, Guitar, Ukulele, Keyboard, Harmonica, Percussion Callum Duggan - Double Bass, Cello, Vocals, Banjo, Percussion Rich Chitty - Drums, Percussion, Guitar Ben Sharpe - Guitar Dan Messore - Guitar
P20 Jessica Jenkins Earth Skin “A haunted head is a haunted mind” jessjenkins52@gmail.com
Old Ink was recorded at Bounce Studios and Tregydd, St Davids by Callum Duggan. Mastered at Hafod Mastering by Donal Whelan. All songs written by William Hughes except track 3 which was written with Ben Sharpe, track 4 which was written with Rich Chitty, and track 6 that was written with Dan Messore. Track 2’s Metamorphosis lyric was influenced by Jack Ford. Zine design by Ctrl Alt Design. Cover and page 5 art by Rich Chitty & William Hughes. © 2015 Bubblewrap Records. BWR022 / All Rights Reserved.
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OLD I N K 1. Ain’t That A Shame 2. Sun Sky 3. Worth A Winter 4. Defining Climbing 5. Bills 6. Labours In Making 7. Train Worker 8. Hiphopstrumental 9. Falling Hills 10. Again Grow Green 11. Rope
Old Ink, dripping and flowing, as sands blood time. Time is shown visually to us as a cycle. The face on a clock ticking around in infinite motion. Regenerating instance after instance and everlastingly offering opportunity. An equality throughout evenness, played and displayed in numbers. Repeating start point and finish, the cycle of time devours itself perfectly in equal measure, every time. In life, us mortals, we know better. For time is not round. It steadily seeps away. Human time is a line and is spent in ruthless effect. As earthly beings, we experience time through physicalities. We see others change from weak to strong, strong to weak. As we see it mirrored in ourselves. So for us in this form, time is finite. A classic vessel of fear, beginning full, quenching and creating. Until the source drains, dwindles and dies. And what choice do we have? Fear or embrace? Both will be chosen, and rightfully so. Using our smart brains and lost brains we will battle forward, continuously doing good and bad deeds. Precariously treading the balance beam. Time is the background ever present. Life is the balance ever present. Time is beyond our control. Under our control once was balance. What shall we do? Peace not power. Little Arrow