Red Blood Cells & Righteousness is the new project from The Line. It’s a 10 track collaborative record with a focus on the importance of community and communal values. The intention of the record was for the creative process to reflect the themes and content. As a result each song was a collaboration between Brian and some of his favourite Irish musicians, friends and most erstwhile collaborators. This includes Godknows, Loah, Sorcha Richardson, Dan Fox (Gilla Band), Sarah Corcoran (Pillow Queens), Caoi de Barra (Wyvern Lingo) and a range of others.

The title for the album came from Julian Gough’s novel ‘Connect’. Throughout the book the writer discusses the idea that human beings are like blood cells - moving autonomously through a much larger ecosystem, serving a much larger power without ever realising that’s what they are doing. Reading this book and thinking about the ‘system of systems’ led Brian down a path of discovery that involved researching the likes of David Foster Wallace’s essays on postmodernism, James Lovelock’s Gaia Hypothesis, the panentheistic philosophy of GWF Hegel and Kae Tempest’s albums and ideas.

This research process led to a large-scale sound art piece called White Blood Cells, which discusses the importance of global supply chains and the lack of respect shown towards them by the average Westerner. It also led Brian to the ideas behind Red Blood Cells and Righteousness. Namely that community, connection and collaboration are the most important things that we have in this life, and that ‘the myth of the individual’ and the pursuit of personal gain and adulation has caused us to forget this.

The sonic landscape of the album is pretty varied, as each track came from a collaborative writing session. As a result, there are a multitude of reference points and influences. However, the influence of dream-pop acts such Beach House and Cocteau Twins, as well as noisier acts like My Bloody Valentine and Skunk Anansie is felt throughout. The songwriting continually pays homage to greats of contemporary alternative songwriting, including the likes of Sufjan Stevens, Frank Ocean, Phoebe Bridgers, Villagers and Big Thief.

This is an album built on personal relationships and communication, dedicated to playing a small but significant role as a part of a world so much bigger than any of us are willing to admit. After all, maybe we’re all just blood cells, swimming through the veins of the earth, serving a much higher function.

The album will be released on Wednesday the 1st of November and there will be a small Irish tour to launch the record, including a show in Dublin’s Unitarian Church on November 25th, which will feature performances from a number of the collaborators on the album. There will also be an exhibition of the aforementioned sister piece (White Blood Cells) happening in Dublin over the course of the month.