Will The Circle Be Unbroken strips a hymn back to just voice, guitar and that unmistakeable echo.
Release: Will The Circle Be Unbroken (single)
Out: Friday 11 September 2026
Where: Presave on Spotify - Premiere on YouTube
Oliver Richard came up through folk clubs and open mics, focusing on acoustic guitar and songs learned by ear. His new single was recorded live in one take inside the Bon Accord Baths, a building that shut its doors decades ago and, apart from a few special events, has sat empty ever since.
The traditional standard was once a fixture of his early sets. Recorded in the empty swimming pool, the vocal and guitar carry a long natural echo that thickens as the song builds toward its close. A companion video, filmed during the same session, follows the performance through fading Art Deco interiors that once drew crowds and now stand hollowed out.
From baths to blues
The B-side pushes further into decay. Richard’s version of Blind Lemon Jefferson’s See That My Grave Is Kept Clean was recorded moving between the sauna and the Turkish plunge pool, spaces that once drew queues of bathers and now sit empty, closer to ruin than relic.
A hymn about permanence paired with a blues song fixated on the grave, recorded inside a building this far gone, makes for an intriguing match. There’s no polish on either track, just Richard’s voice and a guitar left to carry the room’s decay along with them.
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