As Matthew says in his narration, it is an island that “exists in opposition to everything around it”. Because it is featureless, it is those things that people talk about in order to define it. The music Birkin created therefore conjures the waves, collisions, grandeur, weather, peril and navigation.

“The chord sequence for the main theme was written by sitting at the piano and applying the navigational method of ‘dead reckoning’ – that is, deciding where to go next depending on your last point. The result was a strange set of arpeggios that never seemed to settle.”

Matthew’s story is less about an island than it is about the personal stories of the few who have been there…their persistent and strange fascinations and obsessions. For Birkin and Sheret, this project was a strangely persistent obsession that formed over years.

“It seems strange to hire a string trio and create a sweeping score for a podcast episode, but that’s what I heard in my head when reading Matt’s script. His fascination with Rockall became my fascination, and so it had to be done.”