Celebrant’s unique blend of indie-folk song-writing and classical composition builds a stark and vivid world. Led by Scottish songwriter and composer Tom Irvine, the songs wrap intricate arrangements around a strong emotional core, exploring themes of nostalgia, existentialism, displacement, transformation and hope, and the concept of ‘home’ in the midst of change.

Celebrant: Tom Irvine will be performing with Judith Parts at World Heart Beat Concert Hall, Thursday 4 June, 2026.

Hello Tom, it’s great to talk with you ahead of your show this Thursday, any nerves or are you not phased by nerves anymore?

Looking forward to the show! Almost every concert we do involves some new musicians in the line-up, or a different constellation with new arrangements, so it often feels like a ‘first performance’, which of course leads to some nerves, but I’m pretty used to pushing through that at this point, and just embracing the uncertainty.

Do you have any traditions or superstitions before going out on stage?

Nothing specific, though I do have my lucky red ‘concert shirt’ that helps me settle into performance mode.

On 29 May Celebrant released “Vital Parts”, which features Seonaid Stevenson. Can you tell me a little bit about how this new single came about?

Seonaid and I performed together for many years in my previous band Urvanovic. The project ended after I moved from Scotland to Denmark, but it seemed a shame to stop working together entirely, so last year Seonaid came over to Copenhagen with the intention of collaborating on something new. As well as being a fantastic singer (and actor), she’s also an excellent poet, and it felt very natural to incorporate her writing style into the music. We didn’t really have a plan for it, but the song felt like it fit in perfectly with the music I was writing for Celebrant, so we decided to release it as a collaboration. It was a great experience to work with Seonaid in a new context, and with her taking a bigger role in the creative process than she had before in Urvanovic. I hope we can do more together in future!

What were the ideas and emotions that translated into the development of this new single?

Quote from Seonaid:

“‘Vital Parts’ started life as a poem about realising that someone or something that you once deemed personally essential to you, isn’t anymore. The protagonist acknowledges that this presence still lurks within them, and allows it to stay, but on their own terms rather than as something that is vital to their survival. When I initially wrote the poem, and then later developed it into its final song form with Tom, I tried to explore the dynamic between the protagonist and the ‘thing’ that sticks around, and leave it up to the listener whether either is haunting or comforting the other; a captive or a guest.”

When working on new music how essential is the creative collaboration?

Very. Although I do the bulk of the writing alone, I feel like I can’t ever fully ‘finish’ a song until it’s had some kind of external input – that can be as simple as some feedback from friends, but can also be things like production, improvised parts, or in the case of ‘Vital Parts’, more direct contributions in the form of text. It’s also no fun to work alone!

You’ve said that the best thing about your show is “the blending of ambitious classical instrumentation and honest, connective songwriting.” Could you expand on this a little?

I think there’s always a danger when you’re working with larger ensembles and classical instruments to get too carried away with the technical side of composition, with making things too elaborate or grand and forgetting about the emotional core that draws people in, moves them, mirrors their own feelings. It’s something I think about a lot, as although I love the arranging side, I don’t want to lose the meaning of the music in the process of trying to be too ‘impressive’. I try to strike a balance between the ambitious and the personal, and to not let the instrumentation get in the way of what people really connect with.

If you could share the stage with one other artist, someone who has inspired your music, who would it be, and why?

Adrianne Lenker for sure. She’s an absolute master of evoking visceral feelings and imagery in her writing – songs that make you think about your life, about family, friends, places, regrets, and memories. She’s a huge inspiration for the music I make. I’ve never managed to catch her live, but I’m pretty sure it would be an unforgettable performance.

Borrowing a question from Steven Colbert, if you could listen to one song for the rest of your life what song would it be? (For me it’s Feeling Good Nina Simone’s version, it means a lot to me and took me years to find it…long story but it was pre-internet days).

There’s a song by the Edinburgh band Meursault called ‘A Small Stretch of Land’, that I’ve been listening to since 2008 and never tiring of. Beautiful, lo-fi, simple – it creates such a strong image and an intense, almost overwhelming sense of nostalgia.

What comes first, the music or the lyrics?

For me it’s usually the music. I’ll start with guitar or piano and sing melodies over it until some words solidify; often a phrase or a line that implies a theme or direction, then build it from there. With ‘Vital Parts’ (our new single), however, I started with the text from Seonaid’s poem ‘Vitals Are Normal’, which she wrote when she visited me in Copenhagen.

“I’ll start with guitar or piano and sing melodies over it until some words solidify; often a phrase or a line that implies a theme or direction, then build it from there.”

Due to the nature of your music do you ever feel apprehension about writing music that comes from such an authentic place?

Sometimes yes, it can be scary to write from such a personal perspective, but I feel like songwriting is also a kind of therapy for me – a way to process things, to articulate feelings and experiences that are difficult to pin down or discuss in everyday conversations, and ideally to connect with others who can relate to those specific feelings.

What does your music mean to you as an artist?

It’s a fundamental part of who I am; it’s how I express, process, and generally deal with what life throws at me. It’s also a ticket to working with other amazing people, and expanding my own world view through collaborations and the personal connections I make in the process.

And finally, what would you like your audiences to take away from your show and your music as a whole?

I mostly just hope that people will connect to the music in a genuine way – I think there’s a lot in my material that comes from feelings and experiences that we all have, and I hope that people will relate to that and know that they’re not alone in it. Also maybe a t-shirt?

VITAL PARTS is out now.