From Robyn on Patreon in 2021 In October 2008, KT Tunstall and I were among a troupe of artists and scientists on a voyage around the coast of Greenland. The trip was chartered by Cape Farewell, an organisation dedicated to making people aware of climate change. As our ship travelled further into Arctic waters, pale blue icebergs floating in the dark green sea under the ominous purple clouds became a familiar backdrop, as familiar as Hammersmith bus station was in my home life back in London.
That was 13 years ago and many more glaciers have calved billions of tonnes of ice into the sea since then, as global warming accelerates, unchecked…
KT and I were staying in adjoining cabins. We were both writing songs onboard, one of which I have just unearthed from a box of archived demos.
“Slow Motion Rock" was inspired by a geologist aboard the ship who was explaining to us how we were currently floating over rock formations that had oozed into shape more than 250 million years ago. The rocks, like the icebergs, were still in motion, but at a pace so infinitesimal that our species will come and go before they’ve moved a couple of inches. To the rocks and stones, we are briefer than gnats or mayflies. There’s something comforting in this kind of permanence, untroubled by human interference. I picture KT and myself as two ancient gargoyles, chanting from the snowy mountains across the freezing ocean - good times, people!
Slow Motion Rock - RH guitar and vocals, KT Tunstall vocals. Mixed by Charlie Francis at Stwdio Penty.