Nelson, a former Centre Member and volunteer at St Augustine’s has been collaborating with sound artist, Alice Gilmour. Alice has just released a new track called Arrived, which features Nelson on vocals.
Nelson says:
"I met Alice during the pandemic, whilst I was a Centre Member at St Augustine’s. The centre was running an art project and as part of this, I got to work with Alice who is a professional musician and was working with Opera North.
We wrote a song back then, and I went on to perform at the Howard Assembly Rooms in Leeds for Refugee Week. Later, she approached me about singing in a new song about feelings of freedom. She knew I would understand that feeling, having sought asylum in the UK.
How to transmit that feeling when you get a place and you start to free feel and be who you are? I came here with my wife and the first time we walked on the Halifax streets at night, we were a bit scared because this isn’t something you can do in our country. I was looking at everyone and we felt more secure & free – it was a new experience for us; something that is so normal here. To look up at the stars & moon and feel secure. You feel that freedom deeply. That’s what I wanted to convey. The words in Spanish I sing are simply: You are free to dance. You are free to smile.
Our asylum claim was granted in 2022, and my wife and I are living and working in the Liverpool area now and I’m joining a local band to keep my singing going. I’m still in touch with St Augustine's (in fact I’m performing with them during Refugee Week in June) and I'm grateful for the opportunities to participate in projects like this.
St Augustine's becomes a home and a shelter, where you can find yourself, happiness, help, friends, freedom, family and support. The life for asylum seekers and refugees in Halifax would be harder without St Augustine's Centre and all its staff."
Alice says the idea for the song was inspired by the way a satnav says “Arrived!” even when you’re arriving somewhere you already know: She adds:
“I broadened it into trying to capture that lovely feeling when you arrive into a party or club and your friends are there, some great music’s playing and you know you don’t have to be anywhere else for a while, and you can just enjoy yourself. So that led to the warm washy synth chords and whooshy noises. And I felt like throwing in a ‘Mind the Gap’ which I always think is rather a nice, and very British, caring kind of statement.
I also knew that having Nelson singing from the perspective of someone who has gained refugee status in the UK would give it that double meaning of how people feel when they arrive somewhere safe – something that I think we don’t always appreciate we’re so lucky to have.”
Read Alice's blog for the full story and listen to the song below.