Welsh outsider artist Eilir Pierce releases Do-List, his first standalone single after more than 30 years, 39 self-released albums, and over 500 songs.
Produced with Gavin Thomson, the track combines tense piano, drum machines, synth textures, strings, and an increasingly agitated vocal to capture the pressure of unfinished tasks and constant productivity. Pierce says:
I make lists because I’m overwhelmed. Then the list becomes another thing overwhelming me. I tick something off, feel satisfied for about three seconds and immediately notice the other 27 things I haven’t done.
He adds:
I also refuse to call it a ‘to-do list’. The ‘to’ is completely unnecessary. That kind of inefficiency is exactly how lists get out of control.
Do-List introduces Pierce’s forthcoming 40th album Half-Time, a synth-pop musical about moving to Glasgow and attempting to become a pop star in middle age. The project features Aidan Moffat and Gwenno and will also become a stage show and film.
At the centre of the song is one clean fantasy:
Heaven is a place with no list.
Do-List is out now.
