Rusted Rail is proud to announce the release of 'Let's See What the East Wind Brings...' by Good Shepherd. Like labelmate Songs of Green Pheasant, Good Shepherd is another mysterious one-man-band from England. The Cambridgeshire-based recording project of Duncan Poyser, 'Let's See What the East Wind Brings' is the first (and last) album by this teacher and 'twitcher', whose interest in birdwatching is evident from the artwork that adorns the lush 6-panel gatefold CD sleeve.

This collection is made up of newer songs that sit alongside works which appeared on two previously-released limited edition EPs on the "classic era" Rusted Rail 3inch disc format: 'Her Darke Aspects' and 'Ah...Good The Sea' (though some of the pre-existing tracks are now longer as they have been freed from the constraints of the 3inch format and now reside snugly on Compact Disc for the first time). Let's See What the East Wind Brings...' takes in buoyant nautical folk, hushed acoustic confessions, glitch-damaged balladry and sepia-tinted home-made psych-folk stylings transmitted directly from the Cambridgeshire Fenlands.

Says Poyser of the album: "Let's See What the East Wind Brings was recorded between 2005 and 2010 during my first experiments in multi-track recording on a Tascam 8-track. Throughout, the recordings are steeped in references to birds, an obsession since childhood. What is also evident to me now are the narratives and mantras I was using to steer myself through life at that time, a decade before a diagnosis of autism. I hadn't realised then that my need to escape into headphones and an intense focus on sound was to compensate for my loss of sanctuary, as I never felt I could truly lose myself in birding while I lived in London. So these experiments with guitar and song become a notebook of emotional survival from a boy with a far away look in his eye, trying to connect with a lost love while navigating the tangles of humanity in a city way too big for comfort."

From songs drenched by sea spray to tunes baked under the summer sun, Good Shepherd's fireside folk and mountainside melodies highlight his ability to play on the heartstrings, his serene songcraft eventually subsumed by approaching squalls before calm is restored. Let Good Shepherd's hushed midnight musings and elemental music guide you home.


Good Shepherd
"Flown The Other Side"

Good Shepherd
"There is a mountain"