Me Auld Flower finds music to blossom from dark places

Groove Tube with Cian O’Connell

Performing under the moniker of Me Auld Flower, Connemara singer-songwriter BP Nally has a knack for powerful imagery.  His debut album, a nine-track LP titled The Vaults of Consciousness, is something of a journey through BP’s life, spanning continents and timelines.

As the songs travel from Ireland to Spain and the US, however, there is a fixed poignancy that lingers from start to finish, culminating in a return home.

The album’s single, An Apparition in Connemara, hints at the wider context of the body of work.

A lot of the memories BP discusses are deeply personal and difficult to come to terms with. He admits that, at times, the songs have felt like they’re based on someone else’s life.

Still, while the LP does dwell on painful memories, its overarching mood is one resilience and redemption.

“It is a chronological journey in a sense,” BP admits. “Claddagh Palace, the first song, would’ve started off based on childhood memories. It kind of follows a story where maybe things are always on the verge of falling apart. It’s teetering on the brink a bit.

“Not that it’s necessarily by design but a lot of the songs are cautionary tales about chasing shiny things, I suppose. The places are always important to me. I’m really interested in imagery in my music.

“To me, it’s just as important as the melody. I really like hanging the song on striking images and images that will remain in your mind.”

While they do move from place to place, there is a sense of Irishness that remains in each song on the album.

BP roams the west coast of the US but still refers to the statue of the Virgin Mary and people lighting candles for each other. Even overseas, he plays with the idea of home and the role it plays throughout his life.

“It’s inescapable really, the place we grow up in,” BP notes.

“I loved growing up in Ireland but there are things, good and bad, that are always in you. It’s the prism that you see everything through.

“We might interpret things one way because of the way we’ve been raised and the experiences we’ve gone through. Somebody else from a different culture might interpret things in a different way.

For more, read this week’s Connacht Tribune.

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