So here it is, our first album in 5 years! I feel like some sort of explanation is needed…
I guess firstly, making and releasing an album is quite a daunting prospect, so you need to find the right time and head space to see the project through – not just the fun songwriting bits and studio time, but all the necessary admin things that go with it.
I did write an album a couple of years back, but it didn’t quite hang together as an album so we released most of the tracks separately on the Say Nothing and So Long EPs. It was going to be called “Near Far” although I’m not sure if I was serious or just overly obsessed with the Sesame Street “near far” sketch.
So this album finally came together at the start of this year. We already had Don’t Lie To Me out there and had played End of the Rainbow live a couple of times. The opener was going to be Feels Good (now a bonus track) for a while until we decided something more jangly was a much friendlier start to the record. Blame those dark January days.
So ‘Catch Me…’ came together quite late, but felt perfect for the opening slot. It’s not our first song about rejection and probably won’t be our last. Who knew rejection could be so rewarding?
‘Dancing…’ stemmed from the opening riff which takes more than a pinch of inspiration from bands we grew up with like the Wedding Present and Sonic Youth. We’ve been playing this one live this year and it always seems to go down well.
‘Faster than you’ is about accepting getting older, which hey we all are! Not in a defeatist way but through recalibrating your aspirations. It also somehow contains a middle 7, if that’s a thing.
‘Don’t lie to me’. We didn’t set out to create a duet but Andrew recorded a vocal line before me did out of curiosity. I recorded my line later without hearing his. Then we played them back together and liked the result so went with it. The album version is the same composition as the single but we turned a few things up and added some keyboards to make a fuller sound.
Side B opens with ‘Promise you’ll be there’ which is a deliberate departure from side A, with its huge pulsating bass sound and duelling guitar shimmers. Jane really opens up the vocal on this one creating an emotional climax. It sounds great in the car.
Rainbow
We got asked to play Wimborne Folk Festival this year on a couple of the non-folky stages and it was one of the few really wet days of the summer. No, REALLY wet. We’ll always remember playing this song with the rain lashing down and the stage slowly flooding. The sound guy kept moving us further back as we and our gear got wetter and the setlist started blurring. We survived the threat of electrocution and the stage was closed just after we finished. Our resilience helped us somehow win “band of the festival” so we’ll be back there next year, weather permitting.
Based on a true story, this one’s a simple song about lovers kept apart. It has one of those endings that we wanted to go on forever but you can only squeeze so much on a record.
The last official track is a song of two halves. The first half is about falling asleep desperately trying to picture a loved one. As sleep descends, the song goes silent, then explodes with the colour of dreams, instantly restoring the memory, always, forever, again. Maybe I eat too much cheese.
Oh and the strings at the end are a gentle nod to my early steps in music.
Thanks so much for coming to this listening party, we love these opportunities to share time with you all. Enjoy listening to the record and if we’re ever playing near you, come along and say hello. We’ll have headline gigs in Brighton and Halifax in February and possibly a couple more.