Author and singer/songwriter Malachy Tallack brings both those creative roles to That Beautiful Atlantic Waltz, his intricate and elegant new novel set in Shetland, but also to an album of songs which play an important role in that story. SNACK spoke to Malachy to learn more about this fascinating artistic undertaking.
Where did the inspiration for your novel That Beautiful Atlantic Waltz come from?
The story emerged from the central character, Jack, who emerged from . . . well, who knows? He was just there one day, fully formed, as if I’d always known him. He felt both familiar to me and fascinating. I could imagine how he lived, this solitary man, and how his days would run together. But I wanted to see how he’d react if his circumstances were changed, if a different kind of pressure was applied to him. So that’s what I did. And the story unfolded from there.
The way the story is told is beautiful, with two strands unfolding across time. How did you approach writing the separate parts?
The two parts are separate in time – one strand is contemporary, the other runs from 1959 to 1981 – but they are also different tonally. I wanted them to sound different, especially since this is a novel in part about sound and music.Â
The two parts are separate in time – one strand is contemporary, the other runs from 1959 to 1981 – but they are also different tonally. I wanted them to sound different, especially since this is a novel in part about sound and music. There were points in the writing when I was making good progress with one part or the other, and I would rush ahead. Then I’d need to go back and bring the other strand up to date, so the two would sit neatly alongside each other.
Sonny’s story is set in the second half of the 20th century, but it seems such a completely different life and time compared to the one told in the present day. Would you agree?
Yes, Sonny’s life unfolds mostly in Shetland before the growth of the oil industry. It’s a very different place, more community-focused, more independent. He finds the changes of the 1970s – when oil, money and jobs arrived at once in the islands, with the development of the Sullom Voe oil terminal – difficult to cope with. The world no longer feels like the one he knows.
The contemporary story is Jack’s – he’s a country music obsessive who also writes his own songs (which appear in the novel). Did you write the songs first and foremost?
I was led by the story, and wrote the songs alongside. I felt quite a lot of freedom in writing the songs because they are, for the most part, not autobiographical.
They rarely refer to events in the story. Instead, they’re a kind of imaginative life for him, in which he experiences things that he’s not had the opportunity to experience in the real world. That distance and difference between life and song was part of what I wanted to explore.
When did you decide there was going to be an album of those songs?
Very early on. I figured, I could do this – I’ve recorded albums previously – so why not? I wasn’t entirely confident my publisher would be on board with the idea. There’s not exactly many examples I could point to where it’s been done before, tying a novel so closely together with an album. But they let me get on with it, and I’m very grateful to them for that.
You might call Jack Paton’s life an uncomplicated one, at least from the outside looking in. That changes when he lets others into his life. What did you want to explore through Jack’s relationships, including the one he has with music?
I wanted to see how much this character – who has lived a very stable, solitary life for decades now – could change over the course of the novel.
Fate hasn’t been kind to Jack, and that’s made him brittle and stuck in his ways. But human beings can always change, when the right kind of pressure is applied. He doesn’t notice it happening at first; he just goes along with things, as he’s always done. But by the end of the book, we see this other side to him, a side he’s never had the chance to express before, except in his music.
How did you approach making the album? As Jack Paton, or Malachy Tallack?
Very much as myself, not as the character. I’m not quite sure how I could have taken on the role of this character while performing and while singing, but I’m pretty certain it wouldn’t have worked if I had. So it’s me, singing his songs, which I wrote. Peculiar, I know!
There is music referenced throughout the novel, but were there particular inspirations which fed into the album?
I listened to a lot of country music while writing. I mean, a lot! I wanted to feel immersed in it, since this is the music the character himself is immersed in. I started with artists I already knew, at least to some extent, and then I dived deeper. And there were certain voices that stuck with me, in particular, and that accompanied me as I wrote. George Jones was one, the magnificent George Jones. And as readers will discover, Loretta Lynn was another. All of the songs and artists referenced in the book are on a playlist, which you can find on Spotify.
That Beautiful Atlantic Waltz is published by Canongate Books and both the novel and album are out now.
Main Photo Credit: Harrison Reid
