A haunted house by the sea inspired chart-topping County Down composer Stuart Leathem to create a magical mystery tour in sound – and he’s taking us on that journey as part of Iúr Cinn Fleadh.
Stuart – who enjoyed global success with a track featuring rare vocals by Queen frontman Freddie Mercury – will present a psychedelic spectacular film of his own captivating recording Watching Other People Having Fun.
Inspired by a painting of the desolate ‘Barry’s Amusements’ building in Bangor, Stuart tracked down the artist Angie McKee and was granted permission to amend the painting for the cover of his album.
Framing the centrepiece of the record is a piece of Super 8 footage by County Down enthusiast Gordon McKnight – which shows footage of a car racing from Belfast to Bangor in the early 1960s – arriving right outside the building on the cover art.
The recording deals with topics as serious as dementia and as joyful as colourful flowers. It is a musical journey with unexpected turns – ‘much like that old ghost train buried within the amusements building,’ said Stuart. Singer Esther Trousdale – the only female to duet on a single with Freddie Mercury besides Montserrat Caballé – provides dramatic vocals.
Stuart’s music takes the listener to the cracks between the floorboards and back to the light again. He believers this is his and Esther’s finest work to date. It was mastered at Metropolis Studios, London, alongside the new Pet Shop Boys and Blur Live At Wembley albums.
‘In my childhood it was like having a captivating haunted house by the sea,’ Stuart said of the album’s concept, ‘a treasure trove of the ghosts of holidays past. I used to stare up at it filled with wonder and slight fear. Our new album whisks you through the front door of the building and entertains you for 45 minutes until the final note of the last track.’
This unique collaboration of art, film and original music will be aired at St John Bosco Club on Sunday 24 August. Prepare to be taken to new realms.