“The important thing is that each record has its own personality and integrity” : Best Fit speaks to Adrian Crowley

If you’re reading this in Ireland you probably have a very good idea of exactly who Adrian Crowley is. For those of you outside that parameter it’s worth noting that Crowley, a delicate and atmospheric songwriter blessed with a half-spoken semi-baritone and an ear for subtle melody, is a winner of the Choice Music Award for Best Irish album (winning in 2010 for Season Of The Sparks) and, perhaps most notoriously, the man referred to by Ryan Adams in Rolling Stone Magazine as “The best songwriter no-one’s heard of”.

“It was a funny thing to happen,” recalls Crowley of the Adams incident, “I remember showing up for a soundcheck for a gig in Dublin. The in house promoter was standing outside the side entrance of the venue when I arrived to load in my guitar amp, etc. I saw him from the taxi as I approached and wondered if maybe the gig had been cancelled or something, because it was very unlike him to be there early. I had come to know him as a slow moving, gruff character – a man of few words. But he ran up to me and picked up my amp, trotted inside holding it high in his arms. I couldn’t make it out. He kept saying something about Ryan Adams and I hadn’t the slightest idea what he was talking about. I had never seen him so animated. It was very funny,” he continues. “So that’s how I first heard about it. I was totally taken by surprise. Of course it was very flattering. I had only released a couple of very low key records. It did open my eyes a bit – to how you just never know…you know?”

Speaking of how you “never know”, we wonder what expectations Crowley has for his new album, I See Three Birds Flying? “There’s always an odd period right after a record is all finished and nobody else has heard it yet. I tend to wonder what it is exactly I’ve just created and wonder if I’ve just gone a little bit crazy. Thankfully, I’m past that phase and I’ve let it go. I tend not to expect anything as such, I take it step by step and just hope people like what I’ve put out there.”

What he’s put out there so far is five albums of increasingly evocative alternative folk that Crowley himself sees as both an evolving set of works and also, like many auteurs, a case of refining the things that work best for them: “I definitely need to feel like I’m not repeating myself and always search for new avenues.”

“Having said that, I also just go with my instinct. I like to think that I can always improve and get better at what I do. Though, it’s like you take a bunch of novels by, say, Paul Auster – you can see that he has his own atmosphere and style of story that becomes his identity and it’s almost like he’s trying to reshape something that he’s had flashes of years before. I do like the idea that subconsciously elements might develop over a few records and a voice I’m searching for reveals itself over time. The important thing, I suppose, is that each record has its own personality and integrity.”

I See The Birds Flying certainly has plenty of both, from the Vaselines-like (“I met Frances last year in Edinburgh,” says the Dubliner, “she was lovely”) beauty of ‘Alice Among the Pines’ to the remarkably evocative torch song character of ‘Juliet I’m In Flames’, Crowley seems obsessed with the dark side of human nature. “Things hidden from view interest me, human things… I don’t really like to get into why I write anything but often there is a darker element, it’s true. But sometimes there’s a (tiny) bit of humour too.”

It’s this humour that protects him from other people’s expectations based on the funereal nature of much of his work. “I appreciate a good laugh. I’m always joking around, I love comedy and a funny story. Sometimes I find that people I get to know who then go and listen to my music for the first time out of curiosity come back to me to say they weren’t expecting it to be so downbeat. I can’t really explain it. I certainly do feel the need for light relief though.”

Crowley is quick to express his love for his influences, which may not necessarily be instantly evident but make much more sense as you explore his body of work. “Take Elliott Smith for instance,” he enthuses, “the first time I heard his music, I thought it was just beautiful. His guitar playing, the way he constructs the songs, his melodies, the way he controls his voice – his poetry/stories…all amazing… And Daniel Johnston. I discovered his music years ago when I was living in Toulouse in France. ‘Some Things Last a Long Time’ was the song I heard first. A friend had put it on a cassette for me alongside Robert Wyatt’s ‘Sea Song’ and ‘D’ by Codeine among others. Probably my favourite mix tape ever, actually.”

So, influenced by some of the masters (though he denies a direct influence from Red House Painters’ Mark Kozelek, not knowing too much of his work) Crowley even worked with Our Glorious Leader Steve Albini a decade ago (on sophomore release When You Are Here You Are Family) and describes the experience as “intense” but goes on to praise Albini for being “lovely. He made me feel at home . He had a nice way about him, almost made you feel like he was just there to set up microphones and to observe. Of course he did much more than that.”

Adrian’s relationship with cult label Chemikal Undergound obviously raises his kudos a little further, as does his ongoing involvement with The Fence Collective (he and James Yorkston were set to release a joint EP of Daniel Johnston covers only to see it sadly shelved) of whom he says, “they really took me in and made me feel like a part of something great. Johnny Lynch (The Pictish Trail) is a wonderful guy. Their whole community are very special people.”

With a series of UK and European tour dates pencilled in to support the album and more to come (“I would like to reach people overseas,” he notes) it appears that the time is ripe for the world to get in on the action that Ireland’s music fans have been savouring for years now, and get on board with this smart and talented troubadour.

I See Three Birds Flying is available now through Chemikal Underground, and Adrian will be performing on the following dates:

05 Oct – Glasgow, Platform
07 Oct – Amsterdam, Paradiso
11 Oct – Brussels, Ancienne Belgique
07 Nov – London, St Pancras Old Church