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Irreparable Parables

ANDREW WASYLYK

Released 27 February 2026

Clay Pipe Music

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A tender cycle of songs carried home as if by migrating birds, as Wasylyk’s contemplative instrumental world opens to admit vocal expressions of human vulnerability and quiet hope.

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Scottish composer and multi-instrumentalist Andrew Wasylyk has built a quietly distinctive catalogue rooted in place, memory and atmosphere. Working from his native Dundee, among what he describes as a room of “half-broken” instruments, his recordings blend chamber classical textures, jazz-derived moods and ambient tone-collage.

Irreparable Parables marks a notable shift in Wasylyk's musical trajectory. For the first time, Wasylyk set out deliberately to write songs for the human voice, though not his own. Six guest vocalists recorded their parts remotely, in various locations around the world, their contributions returning to Scotland “like migrating birds.” The album’s sleeve artwork by Frances Castle depicts six songbirds, symbolising the singers who give voice to Wasylyk’s delicate instrumental landscapes.

The opening voice belongs to Stuart Murdoch of Belle and Sebastian, whose performance on “Private Symphony #2” sets the tone for the album’s fragile beauty. Throughout Irreparable Parables, Wasylyk’s music exists in a space somewhere beyond classical, jazz and ambient traditions, difficult to categorise, but immediately felt.

The arrangements are richly textured yet never heavy: brass and woodwinds drift through a six-piece string section arranged by longtime collaborator Pete Harvey, while vibraphone, Mellotron, Rhodes and tape loops create an atmosphere that feels both nostalgic and quietly cinematic.

Among the album’s emotional centres are “Love Is A Life That Lasts Forever”, sung by Molly Linen and inspired by the writings of Derek Jarman, and the haunting “Spectators In The Absence of God”, delivered with aching intensity by Kathryn Joseph. Contributions from Gruff Rhys of Super Furry Animals, Saya Ueno of Tenniscoats and Peter Brewis of Field Music broaden the album’s quietly international character.

The closing instrumental, “Soul Enters The Ocean Sun Climbs Out Of The Sea”, returns to Wasylyk’s familiar piano-and-strings serenity, an ending that feels like it brings resolution after the preceding series of fragile parables about resilience, empathy and the consoling power of song.

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