Unveiling the Melody of Night: Hilary Woods’ New Release in 2025
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Renowned for her avant-garde instrumentals in Feral Hymns (2021) and Acts of Light (2023), Hilary Woods re-emerges in 2025 with her brilliant vocal-focused album, Night CRIÚ. The seven melodic wonders in the album is Woods’ lucid attempt to use her harmonic tunes and lyrics to shake off lingering inhibitions. In other words, Night CRIÚ is a musical passport to retake control of one’s embodiment and slight ancient inhibitions.
Night CRIÚ, the Irish artist’s nocturnal masterpiece, illuminates the dimmed corners of selfhood often exposed in the absence of daylight. It channels the concealed personalities lurking in the night-time, waiting for dawn’s curation. The album captures an emotive ambiance unique to Wood’s musicality, evident even in its minimalist arrangement. This journey to rediscovery sees Woods stepping into new territories, as was demonstrated in her compositions for brass bands and children choirs.
Defying the monolithic global culture, Night CRIÚ serves a dual purpose- It mourns lost innocence while simultaneously reclaiming it. By integrating disjoined fragments into a harmonious whole, the album triggers an awakening of the unconscious. Her lyrical prowess is on display, as each word shifts its focus from ordinary interpersonal relationships to intricately woven motifs resembling photographic snippets illuminated in the dark.
Night CRIÚ draws its energy from variegated sources like Czech and early Italian cinema, reviving indigenous languages, fond memories of parade attendances, early music, sound’s immediacy and the global fight against oppression. This international musical venture transpired between 2023 and January 2025, with stops in Ireland’s West Coast, Dublin, London, Latvia, and Richmond, Virginia.
The recorded melodies were selected from Woods’ collection of early home recordings, which she labeled as reflections of contrasting paradoxes. Hilary Woods is the creative force behind the album, with production support from Oliver Turvey and Dean Hurley, who also mixed the album. The album, mastered by Brian Lucey, features other talents like Hannah Fallon, Gabriel Ferrandini, The Hangleton brass band, and Ajo Gonsenica.
The former JJ72 bassist refers to each of her albums as a “life buoy,” and regards the process of making them akin to being in a state of existence. Night CRIÚ exhibits Woods’ innovative side, as she braids elements from different genres such as ambient folk, experimental noise, and electronic music into her narratives. Inspired by artists like Jon Hopkins and Vincent Gallo, and filmmakers like Wong Kar-wai and Chris Marker, Woods’ Night CRIÚ promises to continue her enduring poetic saga.
Learn more about Hilary Woods