Songs Of Green Pheasant

In 2002 Duncan Sumpner, a young teacher based in Oughtibridge in Sheffield, captured a collection of acoustic demo recordings and dispatched the tape to Fat Cat Records. Label personnel later stated they admired the music yet found it difficult at first to connect with Sumpner; once communication was made, they arranged for the material to be issued, and the recordings surfaced in 2005 as Songs of Green Pheasant (during the 2002 sessions Sumpner had credited himself as Kayak). Drawing on ambient falsettos spanning Simon & Garfunkel to Talk Talk’s Mark Hollis, he refined the pieces for live presentation with a friend and set off on a limited tour. He also launched a side project alongside Adam Davenport of Vibracathedral Orchestra.