Simon Joyner

Coyote Butterfly is the first album of new songs in 2 years from singer-songwriter Simon Joyner following the overdose death of his son, Owen, in August of 2022. Drawing on the kaleidoscopic nature of grief, Joyner explores his loss through a series of imagined dialogues and raw confessions. The album is a tribute to Owen, but what Joyner generously delivers is an intimate glimpse at his attempt to comprehend the incomprehensible.

The album is bookended by field recordings overlaid with minimalist guitar laments. The first, a spring thrum of sparrows and red-winged blackbirds, functions as an invitation to the elegies which follow, while the last, the late-August drone of cicadas returns us to a life of sweat on the skin, sirens in the distance, and the things we cannot change but must somehow accept. In between these instrumentals, Joyner grapples with regret and fear, shame and love. From the opening song, I’m Taking You With Me to the gut-wrenching remorse of My Lament, Joyner lays bare the struggles of those left in the wake of personal devastation. On the title track, we hear Joyner perform an elemental incantation, a heartbroken ode infused with forgiveness. The final song of the album, There Will be a Time, is a meditation on a future where such suffering, both personal and universal, might be softened by understanding.

In creating an album of such intimacy, Joyner reminds us of the importance of using art to alchemise the deeply personal into transformative beauty.

Presented by Hey! Manchester and Comfortable on a Tightrope

This is an 18+ event