EBB

Since they drifted into our world a few years ago, EBB have gone from strength to strength and on their hotly anticipated second album, The Mirror, the Scotland-based collective have flexed their muscles even further.

- Words: Gary Mackenzie Portraits: Madbh Bell-Ryott

"I think that's one reason it took so bloody long, because it isn't so easy... we were kind of breaking new ground for ourselves and [asking, "Does this have emotional movement?' And selfanalysis was a big theme."

Finn 'Bad Dog' McGregor

From a chance meeting in a greasy spoon that introduced Erin Bennett to most of her future bandmates to wowing gig and festival goers, via terrible personal loss, support tours with Hawkwind and art-rock leaning stage productions, EBB have already made a significant impression on the UK prog scene.

With 2022's debut album, Mad And Killing Time, garnering plaudits they never anticipated and Prog readers voting them Best New Band of 2023, EBB are shining stars in the prog firmament. Their two decades of shared history and connections as dear, close friends and artistic collaborators give them both depth and an enviably powerful identity.

Singer/guitarist Erin Bennett, keyboard/woodwind player Nikki Francis and bassist Bad Dog (aka Finn McGregor) speak to Prog from their home and base of operations in a converted hotel near Dumfries, where they live as part of a larger communal arts collective. Their new album, The Mirror, was released in November, but has been almost two years in the making.

“We've been doing a lot of writing,” explains Bennett, “[A great many people] and lots of fans were saying, ‘You've gotta do another album,’ but we were still writing for it. So we did The Management Of Consequences [2024 EP] using three pieces of music that we had to tide people over. It gave us time to both write new music as well as work on what we do onstage.”

Given that they live and work together and have their own rehearsal and recording space, what other factors contributed to the album's long gestation? Previously, the band had early clarity about what they wanted to say.