With The Doomed Bird of Providence’s EP the process of making the songs required a fairly radical adjustment of the supplied sounds provided for the project. The main intention was to supply a range of songs to accompany short visual pieces. For this reason the band’s foray into LDWR had a twofold intention; the band were creating short soundtracks as well as incorporating and manipulating the bank of LDWR sounds across the four songs.
The four songs soundtrack four films (either short films or excerpts)…
1. In the Terror of the Moment
This piece was written to accompany the climatic scene towards the end of the 1927 film adaption of Marcus Clarke’s ‘For the Term of His Natural Life’. It involves a ship sinking on stormy seas and the two main characters anticipating watery graves.
2. Safety at Sea
Written for part of a 20 minute ‘safety at sea’ documentary involved lightships, lighthouses and model boats often replacing real ones for the more dramatic scenes. It is possibly the most jolly piece of music ever released by the band.
3. Seabound
Written to accompany Donna Kendrigan’s 1997 animation ‘Seabound’. The animation involves is a sort of high seas Brothers Quay incorporating a drunken seaman, prosthetic limbs and a captured mermaid.
4. The Wounded Platelayer
A piece to accompany part of what is left of Australia’s first ever feature ‘The Story of the Kelly Gang’ (1906). Most of this film has been destroyed, the rest suffering nitrate damage which has left only distorted fragments of the Kelly Gang’s capture.
The Doomed Bird of Providence’s debut album, Will Ever Pray, was released in 2011 to critical acclaim, followed by the single The Bell of the Jardines. 2013 will see their follow up to Will Ever Pray and a new live set up on tour across the UK.
Find out more at www.doomedbird.com