Present Nature Talk New Album, New Single And More

The sanctity of the carefully crafted song is preserved by fast-emerging Leeds five-piece, Present Nature, as they release the alluring, balmy sounds of Columba, featuring Bill Ryder-Jones as producer and guest guitarist. Just the second tease of what lies in store on the band’s self-titled album, released on Friday 14th November 2025, the distinctive sounds of classic new wave pop pervade the single’s sense of dour opulence. Jonny Woolnough kindly chatted to us here:

 

 

Who is in Present Nature, how did you meet and what do you play?

 

Myself, Ben Haskins on lead guitars, Owen Burns bass, Jasper Green keys, and George Hall on drums. I met Ben first 5 years ago now when he was running a jazz open jam night at The Hyde Park Book Club in Leeds. We got chatting and he introduced me to the rest of the band shortly after, who all then played on my first solo album, Mayurqa.

 

What is your earliest musical memory?

Wham, Wake Me Up Before You Go-Go, my older Sister dancing around to it making up routines. I was mesmerised by it all. It sounded perfect.

 

When did you begin songwriting?

Late, I was 18/19. The floodgates opened. I played violin at school then drums as a teen but wasn’t until I finally bought a guitar that I became obsessed with writing. From then on it’s been like a race against time. I messed around so much at school I’m still making that time back in my head.

 

You have your debut self-titled album released on Friday 14th November 2025. How did you want to approach the making of the album?

We dived head first into recording it straight after finishing and releasing my solo album Mayurqa. It was a continuation, or so it felt. I soon realised we’d become a cohesive band now and I was writing sonically more for a band as opposed to musicians putting dressing on my solo acoustic songs. I wanted a live band sound. That energy.

 

Where did you record the album and who produced it?

We recorded it at Yawn studios in West Kirby. It was produced by Bill Ryder Jones.

 

Do you have any interesting, funny or memorable stories from the recording sessions?

 

Not really. I’m not sure what would constitute as interesting in a recording studio setting. I have fond memories of Bill and I roaming the streets of West Kirby on crisp Autumn nights after sessions putting the world to rights. We’d always end up in the pub. We were sat outside his local drinking one evening when he passed me his headphones to listen to something James Ford had just sent him. Some lads turned up and threatened to shoot someone right next to us whilst I had the headphones on, i missed it all.

 

Did you use any particular instruments, microphones, recording equipment to help you get a particular sound/tone for the record?

Yawn has a 60’s Ludwig Super Classic kit that framed the whole album. As soon as I heard it back through the speakers after putting down Man Knows, the first track we recorded, i knew it would work. They had some nice Neve 1073 channels too, and Bill’s got golden ears. That and the players really, they’re what make it sound good. We used lots of good vintage Fender tweed amps too, and Yawns lovely mellotron.

 

Which of your new album tracks hear you at your a) happiest, b) angriest and c) most reflective?

I guess ‘There’ll Come A Time’ is an up tune. I’m not sure how happy it is thematically, but it sounds like a happy tune to me. A positive melody. Angriest, probably Man Knows. But it’s a restrained, controlled anger. The sort you wouldn’t know was there until it was too late. I started it years ago when Cameron and Osbourne first came to power. They boiled my blood. Most reflective? These Are The Ways I Pray, the last song. All last songs should reflect on and encapsulate the overall feeling of a record, distilled into one piece, I think.

 

Was it a difficult album to write?

No, actually. I hit creative gold. I couldn’t write enough or fast enough. I wrote a lot of the songs on the album during the sessions…Spun On A Miracle, Bluebird, Columba, There’ll Come A Time. They came thick and fast and replaced other songs I’d prepared. I felt inspired by Yawn, and Bill and the Wirral and being away from home on these little 2 hour shuttle runs over from Leeds for a few days recording. A break from the routine. The sessions were done in blocks so it gave me time to return to Leeds and write, and tweak, and create more and more. I opened a tap and sometimes the bath overflows. I’ve turned it off since.

 

Who designed the album artwork?

Dave Malone.

 

Does the album title have any significance/special meaning?

It’s a play on domesticity. A protagonists view from a house in Leeds, or anywhere in fact, looking out at the world and where it’s at. Nothing to do with Nature.

 

You have also released the single ‘Columba’. What was the story/inspiration behind the track?

Its character appropriation. My record before, Mayurqa, was so personal. I felt emotionally drained after it. I wanted to try something new on this record and inhabit other lenses. It’s about a couple who love each other too much to ever part. Columba is a church you pass as you enter Headingley where the song is set. I think I was thinking of Alan Bennett, I went to the same school as him. Although I grew up in Leeds, I wasn’t born here.

 

The single is accompanied by an official music video. What was the thought process behind the video and who directed it?

The video is just a collage of videos from my iPhone library. We hadn’t the budget for videos so we had to improvise. My wife is Spanish and so we spend quite a bit of time in Spain, which is where a lot of the footage is taken from. The religious imagery seemed to tie in with the Columba aspect. I don’t know what it’s about or what the concept is really, other than it’s moving imagery from the heart set to music.

 

Where is your hometown and could you please describe it in five words?

Leeds. A progressive public transport backwater.

 

How do you look after your voice?

I don’t drink or smoke anymore so that helps. There’s a point where my voice naturally breaks that I used to really push when I was younger. But I can’t get away with that anymore, it damages any strength I have. So I avoid that point now when I’m singing by lowering keys etc, which in turn strengthens my tone. If I remember I’ll do a head over a bowl of hot water with a towel on the morning of a gig. I sing so infrequently I don’t practice enough. I should do more.

 

Do you have any live dates planned in the UK/Europe in 2025/2026?

We’re waiting for a load to come through yeah. Watch this space on our socials and we’ll post when they land.

 

What two things do you hope to have achieved once you have left the stage?

To have remembered all my parts without thinking about them. And to have inhabited and honoured the songs. People will leave happy then.

 

Do you have any favoured stage instruments, effects, pedals, microphones etc?

I’ll use anything that’s passing through my life that I can afford to justify with young kids and bills to pay. You can’t keep it all, I’ve had to sell so much great stuff along the way I try not to be too sentimental about gear these days. It’s material, and it’s the player and how you approach the instrument. I flit between my Martin 000-18 acoustic and a ’71 Walnut Gibson 335 at the moment. They’re lovely, but better players than me get more from lesser guitars.

 

You are given the opportunity to write the score for a film adaptation of a novel that you enjoy. Which novel is it and why?

Roberto Bolaño’s Antwerp. Visceral, collaged hallucinations of music. I wouldn’t know where to start, but it would be interesting. The first track on the album, ‘Picaresque’ was written immediately after finishing Max Porters The Death Of Francis Bacon, which I see a lot of Antwerp in. So, in a way I was soundtracking already through that. I already had the melody with some lyrics about my two beautiful little sons. But it felt too personal and intrusive, so I rewrote the lyric fitfully inspired by Max Porters book, and inline with Present Natures concept. It’s about a prostitute in Valencia who murders a punter. I’m a voyeur watching it all. I left in the last line ‘golden boys’, from the original lyric about my beautiful sons. I’ll release that version one day too, I still have an early demo.

 

Who are some of your musical influences? Do you have any recommendations?

I’m too old at 45 to know what directly influences me musically, if anything. I’m an amorphous contradiction of a lifetimes musical over indulgence. Eazy E was my first hero, and we had posters of Miles Davis and Marvin Gaye up in my house growing up. My Dad was a musician. Dr. Dre was big. Then I discovered The Beatles, The Kinks and Brian Wilson and The Beach Boys and before you know it you’re listening to Zappa and Beefheart. English choral music was always base point harmonically and melodically – Herbert Howell’s, Benjamin Britain, John Tavener and John Rutter. They were played constantly in the house growing up, loud. Recommendations? Lo Vu, Slip Martin & Alice Kim. They’re some Leeds musicians who feature on Present Nature, each doing totally their own thing in a really original way.

 

What makes Present Nature happy and what makes you unhappy?

Is happiness a choice? I think it probably is. Well today Candie Payne was over rehearsing for a show we’re doing together on the weekend. She’s singing harmony on my song Bluebird and we’re doing a cover of Bobby Gentry’s Courtyard. We were chatting for hours, we could talk all day. So today was a good day and filled with great music. What makes me unhappy? Leeds United losing.

 

Feature Image Photo Credit: Supplied By Perspective Communications

The new single ‘Columba’ is out now. 

The new album, ‘Present Nature’, released on Friday 14th November 2025.

Official LinkTree: https://linktr.ee/presentnature