Mermaids by Natalia Beylis

'It was a rainy day at the recycling centre in Leitrim. There, amongst the tangle of discarded kettles and broken down toasters, I first laid eyes on her: a CRB Elettronica Ancona - Model: Diamond 708 E Electric Keyboard. She waited, resolved to her fate of slowly oxidizing in the drizzle before being crumpled into the back of a lorry heading for the landfill. Or maybe, she waited, knowing I would come. I smuggled her into the back of my van and brought her home. For years, she sat untouched in the corner of my studio. Until one day when I finally plugged her in and she came alive with an unpredictable rattle. I took her apart and inside I found three broken purple crayons broken into nine pieces. With the crayons excavated, she sounded perfect. To me anyway.

The sounds that come from her when I play always move me like water: swimming in rivers and floating in the murk beneath the surface. When I found the cover picture of the three figures in a stack of old family photos, a confluence of the sounds and the image charged through me and the album Mermaids began to flicker into being.'

All songs written and performed by Natalia Beylis

Tracks 1,2,3,5 and 6 recorded and mixed by Natalia in her home studio, Leitrim

Track 4 recorded and mixed by Mat Warren at Studio Moo Moo

Additional mixing on Track 1 and Track 5 by Mat Warren at Studio Moo Moo

Additional recordings on 'Good Birds, Goodnight' and 'A Visit to Yasmin' recorded with the chickens and ducks of Barrymore, Athlone

Mastered by Rupert Clervaux
Cover Photo by Jeff Beylis

Released by Touch Sensitive Records