For Owen Gillham, musical practice has now evolved further beyond personal expression. It has become an act of rebellion against grief and pain, a way to reclaim his own bright self in the face of heavy struggles. Going by the moniker I AM HANDS, the British musician has recently released an eponymous album filled with an eclectic line-up of tender gems and evocative cuts. Crucially, all profits made from the record will be donated to charity.
Setting aside the album’s social relevance for a second, it’s good to note how actually good it is from a sonic standpoint. Alongside its strikingly introspective ethos, ‘I Am Hands’ rejoices in a myriad of hypnotic textures and grainy soundscapes, oscillating between heartwarming aural carpets, gentle acoustic guitars, and vaporous saxophones. In a way, it’s quite a psychedelic record, certainly dreamy and cinematic, too. The occasional darker section or heavier distortion is also a feature of ‘I Am Hands’.
Delving deeper into the reasoning for such a meaningful and purposeful album, I AM HANDS explains: “Grief grabs you and pulls you down like you’re being pulled underwater. Part of the process of recovering from loss for me, at least, required a certain amount of looking backwards – I determined that I needed to fight the undertow. It was an opportunity for something beautiful to grow from the misery of the past year and a half and a way to make our music mean something, not just exist as a relic of a creative process that had been stolen away”.
All income generated from sales of I AM HANDS’ records will be passed on to the mental health charity, Campaign Against Living Miserably. Grab your copy of the album on Bandcamp.
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