Though the songs were written over the course of a year or so, Post War Plans was generations in the making. The album comes off the back of featured singles and a series of official remixes - Losing the Matriarch, The Worst Sight That I've Seen So Far and title track Post War Plans - receiving positive coverage for their thoughtful prose and vivid imagery.

Debris Discs is the solo venture of former Coves & Caves/My Side of the Mountain member James Eary.

Nestled up in the hills of the High Peak in Derbyshire, James contrasts rural, understated song writing with an arsenal of dusty synths, drum machines, effects pedals and a trusty old telecaster. The result is a kind of windswept, cinematic yet lo-fi soundscape with a resolutely pop sensibility that is evident throughout Post War Plans’ twelve tracks.

The seeds of this album were planted back in the era of World War Two, via a series of letters sent home to family members by James’ grandfather. Discloses James:

“‘Post War Plans is inspired by recently discovered letters my Grandpa wrote to his brother while fighting in WW2. The letters span from his first posting in Egypt in 1942, through to VE night in 1945.

“He served in a Regiment of the famous 'Desert Rats', so I knew that he must have had some incredible experiences, but like a lot of soldiers of his generation, my Grandpa rarely spoke to the family about his time in WW2.”

The discovery of such an important part of his family’s history had a profound effect on James, affording him a greater insight into his grandfather’s life, experiences, and personality.

“Getting the opportunity to find out what actually happened to him through these letters has been a privilege - and a revelation. The way he wrote really caught me off guard. Each letter was like a mini novel in its own right - full of self-deprecation and deadpan humour, but with gut wrenching descriptions of the things he'd seen, soulful reflections and simmering anger at the futility of it all. And the writing was just beautiful - so focussed, concise and lyrical. An absolute gift to a songwriter.

“Full of inspiration, I set to work on songs that tried to represent my Grandpa as a young man in the war, repurposing and reimagining his words from the letters to tell a personal war story.”

Not only did the letters impact James on a personal and emotional level, but they also led to a period of intense reflection and a subsequent creative outpouring, prompting him to look to his own musical past and more unexpected places for inspiration. Continues James:

“Just as the lyrics are inspired by the past, musically the album’s genesis lies in an old 8-track demo cassette I made over 20 years ago. There was one particular instrumental piece on the tape that had a kind of lolloping, melancholic groove that really resonated with me.

“The recording was pretty shonky and the sounds had become quite warped over the years, but that added to the charm. So I decided to rescue and revive that old demo and over time, gradually reworked it into what is now the album centrepiece ‘Dear Fred’.

“It set the loose template for the rest of the album - a kind of multi-layered, cinematic sound palette, but tempered with a fuzzy, slightly wonky homespun sensibility. Almost like I’m trying to bring the songs back down to earth before they get ideas too above their station. Tracks that are dreamlike but encourage you to stay lucid, rather than just lost in the music.

“Although I've moved on from 8-track demos, my recording and production workflow is still pretty rudimentary. The whole album was recorded, produced and mixed on Garageband using a ten year old Mac, almost buckling under the sheer volume of tracks. Processing power was saved by the fact that almost every sound you hear on the record is from a hardware instrument: analogue synths old and new - Roland HS-60, Jen SX1000, Casio VL-Tone and the Arturia Minibrute, through to digital synths - Korg R3, Waldorf Streichfett and a Roland Juno D.

“I also used an array of drum machines, samplers, grooveboxes and noise makers - Akai MPC1000 and the (unjustly hated) Rhythm Wolf, all the Korg Electribes and a couple of Monotrons.

“Key to the sound I wanted was mixing the synths and drum machines together with good old electric guitar and bass - Fender Telecaster and Fender Jazz to be precise. I then fed pretty much all of the instruments through either a Memory Boy deluxe delay pedal, Carl Martin Headroom spring reverb or an Electric Mistress Deluxe flanger - to add extra depth and texture, and blend everything together. My hope is that it's not always clear exactly what sound you're hearing - a little element of intrigue to encourage repeat listens.

“As most of the record was made during lockdown, the children were around a lot. Which meant there were always toys lying around for extra inspiration. You'll hear various kids percussion throughout the album - shakers, mini tambourines, toy piano and of course, the mighty ELC glockenspiel.

“The hardest part of the production process was mixing the vocals. I've been in love with The Beach Boys since I was seven years old, so I always try to add multi-layered harmonies into my songs.

“Unfortunately, this approach doesn't work so well with my rudimentary Garageband set-up. I’ve found no way to group tracks together, so during mixing I had to painstakingly manipulate each individual vocal take to get them all to sit well together. On most of the songs there are at least 40 separate vocal tracks, often many more, so it was a somewhat laborious process.

“I was determined to mix the album myself though. I didn't really know what I was doing (I still don't) but I like to think it adds some uniqueness to the overall sound. I see mixing as a part of the creative process, so I'd find it difficult to hand over to someone else. The only thing I knew I definitely didn't want to attempt myself was mastering - I fully believe that's a job for the professionals. And I am most definitely not a professional.”

The whole process of recounting his Grandpa’s stories and shaping them into a cohesive musical whole for the album had a profound effect on James as a musician, but also how he views his older relatives, their lives, culminating in a journey of personal growth:

“As the writing progressed, I started to reminisce about my childhood days with my Grandpa and my other grandparents and how these memories shaped my relationships with them in their latter stages of life. These thoughts expanded into grand themes centred around hope, despair and solace, and before I knew it, I’d made a concept album. Not sure if that’s the done thing for a debut record, but it’s worked for me.”