To celebrate Earth Day, iconic artists from across Ireland and the UK – including Lankum, The Pogues, Ash and Hannah Peel – have contributed to a new 'Music Nature Map', celebrating "the wild places" that have inspired their work.

Developed by Music Declares Emergency and WWF UK, the UK & Ireland Nature X Music Map "not only explores the natural influences behind the music, but also underscores the importance of preserving" the landscapes of the UK and Ireland.

"These natural spaces are crucial not just for their cultural significance, but for their essential role in supporting mental and physical wellbeing," a statement about the launch of the map reads.

The map also features contributions from the likes of Elbow; Black Country, New Road; Katy J Pearson; Iona Zajac; and more.

Lankum's Daragh Lynch selected "the grating on the river where the Poddle meets the Liffey" in Dublin for his contribution to the map.

"We used an image of this semi-submerged grate on the cover of the first Lankum album, as it seemed quite significant on a psychogeographical level," he wrote. "It is the exact point where the Poddle meets the Liffey and apparently in ancient times the two rivers formed a deep whirlpool where they converged. This became known as the Black Pool, or 'Dubh Linn', and it is from this that Dublin gets its name."

Ivor Novello award-winning composer/producer Hannah Peel chose the southwest coast of Donegal for her entry, noting that the wind there "carries a thousand songs and the sky is endless."

Jem Finer of The Pogues, meanwhile, picked The Gurdy Stone, located near Kingston in East Sussex.

"This is a beautiful stone, 40 million years old," he remarks. "It simply stands there, in the shadow of the South Downs, and everything else comes and goes, around and slowly round."

Explore the map here.

 

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