Love or its absence dominates the intimate songs on the new album from ARBORIST the musical outlet of Mark McCambridge. Looking For Love, Arborists fourth album of exquisitely inventive Americana, places us firmly in his hometown of Belfast, allowing it to act as a microcosm of the wider-world, with all its foibles and charms. We find fictional protagonists scouring the dark corners of the city, wiling-away afternoons in strip clubs, wandering the streets in all weather and reflecting on the harsh reality of modern society, all in search of an elusive love emphasising our need for it now more than ever.

Looking for Love is ARBORISTs first album to be self-produced by McCambridge, largely from his home studio in Belfast and at times it feels like we are in the room with him. Its a different kind of record for him as previously he has always sought collaboration; whether it be with Kim Deal who chose to sing intertwined harmony on his debut single Twisted Arrow, or recording in The Curfew Tower owned by The KLFs Bill Drummond who described Marks songwriting as being riven with more loss than any record since Leonard Cohen quit this world, and who Matthew E White and his Spacebomb band collaborated with to such astonishing effect on the previous Arborist LP, 2023s An Endless Sequence of Dead Zeros, winner of the prestigious Northern Ireland Music Prize. This time, with no outside producer steering the way, McCambridge found that the quiet hours were where he felt most at ease, despite periods of trial and error, and, by his own admission, moments of feeling genuinely lost in it all.

Despite playing many of the parts himself, McCambridge still called upon old friends from the community around him; Spacebombs resident bassist Cameron Ralston (Bonnie Light Horseman, Hiss Golden Messenger) again features throughout the record, alongside Eamon Ferris (The Waterboys) on drums, with the great and the good from Belfasts vibrant music scene. Grainne Meyer plays concert harp and Aga Olek plays violin for the quasi-title track Looking 4 Love an off-kilter love-letter to Belfast. Meilana Gillard provides a sleazy saxophone on Bye Bye Johnny Cash a seedy tale of a man obsessively visiting a dancer in a club, and The Larne Community Youth Choir provide backing vocals for Go Kill The Fatted Calf a song Mark wrote about his son growing up, a take on the parable of the prodigal son, with Jonny Ashes blistering guitar solo adding an album highlight. The Errigal Ensemble String Quartet and Aisling Agnews breathtaking flute solo feature on What Is It Youre Asking a song about love, or its absence, both personally and universally in these times.

McCambridge was recently honoured with a Fellowship by the Seamus Heaney Centre at Queen's University Belfast where he collaborated with such illustrious names from the literary world as Nick Laird, Caoilinn Hughes and Conor McPherson. Through the University he was given access to the music department's Steinways and pipe organs, and decided to try one out for the albums centrepiece Ive Been A Flaneur. As Mark explains, "The drone on the pipe organ and the sound of it starting and stopping was so visceral that I decided to try a half-written song against it right there and then, and this came out in one take The song was a breakthrough artistically - I don't think I'll ever record in the same way again after this."

The album was engineered by longtime collaborator Ben McAuley (Van Morrison) and mixed by Jimmy Robertson (Anna Calvi, Beth Gibbons, Fat Dog). The results are staggering, devastating and uplifting in equal measure, calling to mind albums such as Songs Ohias Magnolia Electric Co., The Divine Comedys Regeneration, The Blue Niles Hats and Wilcos Ode to Joy, as well as early-70s records from John Cale, John Lennon and Bill Fay.

Belfast native Mark McCambridge played his first show as Arborist supporting James Yorkston. A solo tour followed, and impressive performances led to notable support slots alongside Low, Cat Power, Echo & The Bunnymen and Guy Garvey. Arborist's debut single, the Americana-tinged "Twisted Arrow," caught the attention of the critics with an astonishing duet with Kim Deal of The Breeders. The debut album Home Burial (2016) and its follow-up, A Northern View, both received glowing praise, from The Guardian ("instant classic" ----) to MOJO ("devastatingly bleak upliftingly beautiful" ----) to Uncut (8/10), with BBC 6 Music play from Cerys Matthews, Cillian Murphy, Lauren Laverne, Radcliffe and Maconie and Gideon Coe and Steve Lamacq calling single "Taxi" "one of those records that makes you immediately stop what you're doing." He went on to even greater success with the 2023 Northern Irish Music Prize winning third LP, An Endless Sequence of Dead Zeroes, which was recorded at SpaceBomb Studios in Virginia with musician and producer Matthew E White. For his fourth LP, Looking For Love, he has signed with Fika Recordings and with a tour approaching in November, 2026 looks set to be a seminal year for the Irish artist.

"A staggering debut of depth and substance" - UNCUT

"An instant classic" - The Guardian

"Devastatingly bleakupliftingly beautiful" - Mojo

"A poignant, beautiful record" - Lauren Laverne BBC6Music