I’ve been very impressed by Cliché Cult’s releases to date; can they do it again? The spoiler – look away if you don’t want to see the result – is yes.
This is a band who I’m not surprised to see switching it up; rather than the more alt-rock previous releases ‘Talk’ sees the band taking an indie path. Sparkly and way bouncy is how I’d sum this up; it’s a joyous riot of danceable riffs, a beat that just won’t give up and a tune that is so damn earwormy.
But this is a band who draw their influences from before, and these are on show here; they throw a little post-punk into the drums and more than a little punk into those guitars. And, you see, the result is all the more riotous for this.
This, my friends, is a burst of outrageous happiness, Summer bliss in a neatly encapsulated 3 minutes 11 seconds. One for going mad to, now that lockdown is (I hope) nearly over. Play loud and get sweaty.
The info
‘Talking’ is the third single from Leeds based 4 piece Cliché Cult. They formed in June 2020, when lockdown had just been lifted, with each member coming to the project with varied experiences and musical backgrounds.
Recorded at The Penthouse Recording studios in April 2021 by Darius Kiani.
Band members:
Jimmy Sweeney – Vocals and Rhythm Guitar
Robin Green – Drums
Jake Clayton – Lead Guitar
Jimmy Ingham – Bass
In 2020, the global pandemic brought about the first ever cancellation of Marsden Jazz Festival (MJF) since it began in 1992. Whilst the Pennine village fell quiet last year, the festival organisers are doing all they can to fill the streets of Marsden with live music, excitement, and a sense of togetherness this year.
To help deliver their covid-safe live music festival they’re asking for the support of their loyal fans and audiences to help make that happen. Their Crowdfunding campaign aims to raise £10,000 which will support the festival to return with all of the fun and celebration that visitors have come to love over the years, whilst ensuring audiences feel safe and happy, with covid-safe measures in place.
Dani Sicari and The Easy Rollers
Barney Stevenson, Artistic Director for Marsden Jazz Festival said “By moving many of our gigs outdoors, we are transforming the festival into a fantastic, safe, high-quality live music experience that continues our tradition of diversity and inclusion and still feels like Marsden Jazz Festival.
“With your support, we can make these plans a reality. We can’t wait to welcome you all back to Marsden this October.”
With the thought that ‘simpler is safer’ in mind, the festival is planning to take most of its artistic activity outdoors including a headline outdoor stage on Peel Street, a youth stage on the Bandstand in the park, a delicious street food alley and the market in the park. Where activities are planned indoors they will be large venues where social distancing can be implemented alongside one way systems and with total clean down between gigs.
Mansion of Snakes Mechanics Club Stage Marsden Jazz Festival 2019
Full details will be released mid-August when all fundraising is completed and that’s why the festival is asking for support now from it’s audiences and supporters.
Every gift that donors can offer, whether £5 or £5,000, will help secure the festival’s ecstatic return this year. All gifts pledged to their Crowdfunder will go directly towards the very best world-class musical talent, immersive exhibitions, and providing opportunities for emerging, under-represented and young artists.
Legendary Trombone player, Dennis Rollins MBE has pledged his support for the festival with a video which can be seen above – he has said “Festivals have had a really tough time during the Covid crisis and it’s really tough for them to survive, so this is where we need your help. Please donate as much or as little as you can and help us deliver a Marsden Jazz Festival with a bang
“It’s a real pleasure to play at this festival – I’ve been playing there for over 15 years and I hope I’m going to be there for another 15 along with a fabulous team, delivering the most incredible jazz music this country produces!”
Marsden Jazz Festival has recently signed up to the Keychange initiative which aims to achieve a 50:50 gender balance across the music industry, and also to Black Lives in Music (BLiM) which seeks to represent black artists in the music sector, tackling racism and inequality for black artists.
With any Vukovar album there are layers; the layers with this album start with the title. If we explore what Immurement means; we come up – with a sense of unease – with this:
Immurement (from Latin im- “in” and murus “wall”; literally “walling in”) is a form of imprisonment, usually until death, in which a person is sealed within an enclosed space with no exits. This includes instances where people have been enclosed in extremely tight confinement, such as within a coffin. When used as a means of execution, the prisoner is simply left to die from starvation or dehydration.
I, for one, can see no way that this can be coupled with the word ‘great’; unless it is meant in a sense of almost countless immurements, or the immuring of a ‘great or important person’ However, considering track titles we can note this one ‘The Great Immured And His Sea Of Love’ and also this one ‘Cement & Cerement’(for those who don’t know a cerement is a shroud for the dead). And we can note additionally that the band say that this album is ‘the next step in their obsessive memorial device to Simon Morris’. The final piece in the jigsaw is placed to complete the picture encrypted in the title.
This explored we can move on to the sonic content of the album. I use the term ‘sonic’ because any Vukovar album is never purely a collection of songs.
The opening track ‘Your Icarus’ is in part a sweet synth pop song and in another part an epic sound sculpture. A lifting pure vocal over synth based alt-pop with something of a post-punk electronica feel provides the sweetness, a bitter-sweetness and this is gradually overwhelmed by washes of sound, pieces of spoken word that lie in the depths of the sound. It is a beautiful piece that conveys atmosphere and emotion.
The next two tracks ‘The Solar Anus’ Parts 1 & 2. Part 1 takes a post-punk electronica feel and pairs that with a loping rhythm. Part 2 is more complex sonically, although building on the feel of Part 1. Layers of sound – angelic vocals swoop, complex patterns of synth weave. The whole is much closer to alt-synth pop than a post-punk electronica sound. Hints of synth pop, Bauhaus, late period Tom Waits and many others two numerous to list. Taken together the two parts are mesmerising, hypnotic, music to immerse yourself in.
‘Psalm’ is a sound piece. A sound piece with the feel of a prayer, a plea. A wash of sound, impassioned vocals, stabs of a warped organ, sound on the edge of being unpleasant. It’s disconcerting, unsettling and, yet, strangely beautiful.
And then we are hit with the full force of ‘When Rome Falls’. A full on post-punk attack, more than a hint of Goth, a song that demands you get up and dance. A carefully crafted demand. A song that isn’t exactly what it might lead you to believe it is at the start.
‘The Immoral Hour’ is a dense, disturbing montage of sound. Vocals that are so heavily distorted they induce a sense of anxiety. Pure synths, heavy beats, sounds that are buried deep within the other layers.
‘Sculpt The Sculptor’ starts sounding like the purest pop there is before vocals layer one on top of another and then more and more until it falls apart. It starts again – that sweet sound, a heavy drum beat, psychedelic sounds. It has the feel of trance done in the style of Vukovar, Gong at their most freeform. It is a joy, a somewhat disturbing joy.
Having completed a number of tracks that are sound pieces with ‘O Eden’ we gain some respite with a ‘more conventional song’. There is a tune – honestly, a rhythm that is almost constant. In feel it’s 80s’ synth pop – the richest kind. A mutant OMD if you will. But still this is Vukovar so you’d expect spoken words, disturbing bright synths and yes you get those.
‘The Nurse’ is a spoken word piece with sound.
And then we come to the aforementioned ‘Cement & Cerement’; which given its title you might assume is something that is going to be hard to listen to. But far from it, in fact this is a surprisingly upbeat electronic pop track with what appear to be fairly simple words. And you can dance to it.
Every Vukovar album contains at least one epic track – in the case of this one it’s ‘The Great Immured And His Sea Of Love’ (which lasts over 12 minutes). Although you suspect that this will become something else; it starts as a beautifully tuneful, atmosphere laden, dark electronica pop track. Wonderful sounds underpinned by what I can only describe as a sense of anxiety, of being disturbed, of a darkness.
Partially this comes from the vocal which reminds me of The Associates in some ways, and partially from the dark sounds that lie at the bottom.
But then it happens, it changes. Voices take over, spoken voices. Skittering sounds. The voices by the way sound like phone messages – messages with an incredibly disturbing sense of being real, messages that are about Simon Morris. Listening you feel very uncomfortable, that they are something you shouldn’t be hearing but at the same time you can’t stop. It’s hard to put into words the effect of listening to this track. I feel it’s something best left to the individual listener to decide.
Given the overarching topic for this album it’s with a great deal of surprise that I find myself defining this as one of the more accessible Vukovar albums. Yes the band never do anything ‘straight’ but the way they ‘sculpt sound’ is mainly introduced in a gentle way.
And even if it is somewhat more accessible it still displays the usual obsessive attention to detail in the way the songs are put together. And perhaps even more care has been taken as the sense of darkness is more subtle than it has been in the past and this makes it, at least to my ears, all the more effective. There is a sense of holding back in the sound, a feeling that the layers of sound have not been taken as far as they could go, that the sound on sound on sound has not been allowed to overwhelm.
This is a thing of dark beauty. Of sound sculpted into something beyond music; into pure sonic expression.
The info
The band say:
For Simon Morris; His Name Means First And Last.
Following ‘THE COLOSSALIST’ and continuing the death-life commitment to their grave loss, VUKOVAR’s next step in their obsessive memorial device to Simon Morris is ‘THE GREAT IMMUREMENT’. With the new, stable line up, here with Jane Appleby (CERAMIC HOBS), the NeuPopAct have collided and colluded to now present their 9th LP and part two of the Eternity Ends Here triptych; the most ambitious thing attempted by the group and the most wrapped in turmoil.
VUKOVAR formed in a crumbling placefiller of a town in 2014. They were always dying and reorganized after cease to exist in 2019. Effete artists pretending to be northern hardcases pretending to be uniform fetishists in iconoclast drag. “Do not trust us; we are fragile stars.”
Jane Appleby appears on ‘The Great Immured And His Sea Of Love’. Simon Morris appears on ‘Cement & Cerement’.
All songs written and recorded by the 5/5 of Vukovar.
Except:
‘When Rome Falls’ lyrics written by D. Tibet and music by Vukovar.
‘Psalm’ taken from ‘Psalm 142’ by David and music by Vukovar.
Excerpt from ‘O Eden’ taken from ‘And Our Faces, My Heart, Brief As Photos’ by John Berger.
Engineered and produced by The Brutalist House & The Ghosts In Their Machine and Phil Reynolds. Mastered by Phil Reynolds.
Back in March 2018 I reviewed, and bloody loved, CWM’s single ‘Homely Streets’. Yes that long, 3 years and change ago. I was somewhat disappointed not to have a release from them to review in the time since then, and then this arrived, BIG JOY!
The EP contains ‘Homely Streets’ but let’s get going with the opening track ‘Icebreaker’. This is one hard hitting track – punky, kind of metally, a riff that hits like a sledgehammer. But there’s a twist, a beautiful twist, unexpectedly it gets all dreamy; vocals echo, delicate guitar. And then it comes back heavier. I say punky but this isn’t quite what I mean; the vocals yes but musically it’s kind of second generation original punk which probably isn’t what you were thinking of. And perhaps hints of New Model Army and even Here & Now in their harder guise. However you care to describe it this is a hell of an opening track – heavy as hell, inventively structured.
‘Cheerful’ is less heavy and more punky; it has a high energy riff and that kind of jerky rhythm of classic punk, and perhaps a touch of Punk Pathetique is in there too. Cheerful by name and cheerful by nature – it’s just a blast of joy. Short sweet and a riot.
And now to ‘Homely Streets’. Listening to it 3 years later I see no point in changing what I thought of it back then:
‘It’s closer to being good old fashioned punk with a metal edge than pop-punk or dark rock, it has that guitar chugger-chugger thing going on. But I’m struck by vocals which are sort of old fashioned metal stylee, the vocals follow the riff, if you see what I mean. I kept getting vaguely reminded – and I mean very vaguely – of Vice Squad every time I listened to it, it’s just there as a hint of something for me. Equally I get hints – vague hints again – of Black Sabbath’.
‘I may be making it sound a bit like a retro-fest, it isn’t because CWM have given it their own thing. They throw a radio-voice section into the mix, seemingly just for kicks, but it works. And they resist the temptation to do any major amounts of speeding up – which when you first listen to the song is what you think is going to happen. It slows down not up people. It’s a blast’.
‘Criminality’ comes as a surprise, and then again it’s not a surprise because you get the feeling that CWM like to mix it up. The band describe this as ‘groovy’ and it is; groovy and heavy. Based around a riff that just won’t let go – a riff that has something of a metal feel but crucially without the rest of the sound that might imply. It’s actually sparse with way clever drumming and bass. Bursts of voice and drums surprise wonderfully.
Where this fits in in the music genre range I have not the slightest idea. It takes all sorts of things – punk, metal, post-punk to name but three – and mixes them into something else. It’s weird but hugely fucking brilliant and addictive.
‘Raised As Wolves’ comes out of left field. Even knowing that CWM like to mix it up is not going to prepare you for this. It is in a broad sense a kind of rock ballad – atmospheric musically, a big big noisy chorus, full of huge builds, that yearning vocal thing. But then again it isn’t at all because although this might describe it in structure, the reality is something that is basically indescribable. But this my friends is not a bad thing. Perhaps it’s enough to say it’s fucking outstanding, and is a must listen.
Those 3 years were worth the wait; CWM have produced a startlingly good set of songs. Varied but with a sense of this is CWM’s thing running through, inventive musically without being self-indulgent, played brilliantly and put together so so well. I have not the slightest idea how to describe what the band do in a genre sense beyond the rather vague term alt-rock, but I do know this EP fucking rocks.
Back in January I reviewed Beluga’s single ‘Painting with Three Colours’ and was hugely impressed with their progressive instrumental music. I know that they describe what they do as ‘instrumental prog-rock’ but I feel uneasy about that as a term. I’m not going to repeat my argument here; if you want to read that check out the review of ‘Painting with Three Colours’.
With ‘KERAS IV’ the band mainly explore what I’m going to call jazz rock – although sometimes it’s rock with a jazz edge, and sometimes something else – in an epic musical journey. A journey that comes in several seamless parts; light and staccato, delicate and beautiful, heavy, delicate and almost psychedelic, a return to the heavy, and finally a return to the staccato. Beautiful musical moments abound – some lovely organ and piano, frankly stunning drumming and some really inventive guitar.
This may sound like a technical exercise in music making but, a big but, it isn’t; moods and atmospheres run through the whole piece.
As a fan of progressive music I get hints of some favourites here – the Jan Hammer/Jeff Beck collaborations, late period King Crimson, Frippertronics/The League of Gentlemen (a band formed by Robert Fripp), the Norweign band The Hedvig Mollestad Trio (see below), and Nektar (a progressive rock band formed in Germany by UK musicians in 1969). And that’s not including the hefty dose of early 70s’ soul-y jazz. And finally a high dose of what we might describe as ‘traditional prog-rock’.
But, and it’s yet another big but, for all these hints I get what the band have done is make something that is very much their own. The way the different parts slide in and out seamlessly is frankly jaw-dropping at times. It’s never predictable; this thing twists and turns like a snake. And with repeated listens more layers of sound reveal themselves; this is music you can really get your teeth into
So you get the picture, this track is a trip; a trip through sounds, textures, moods and atmospheres. Played with an outstanding musical ability, and put together beautifully. I absolutely love what this band does.
The info
Beluga formed in 2016 when Joe Kershaw (Guitar, Bass), Tommy Diplock (Drums) and Ross Munro (Sax, Keys, Production) met whilst studying at Leeds Conservatoire. The trio combines rhythmic intricacy, powerful riffs and heavily fxed sax and synthesiser tones, expanding the scope of a traditional rock trio and pursuing a variety of musical textures throughout their compositions. Both the classic Prog giants of the 1970s (Yes, King Crimson) as well as modern innovators in groove based instrumental music (Snarky Puppy, Tigran Hamasyan, KNOWER) serve as inspiration for the band.
The Hedvig Mollestad Trio
This isn’t the first time I’ve referred to this band in my reviews so I thought I should give you information. The band describes their music as ‘Outgoing & progressive instrumental rock’; although you’re going to get 70s heavy rock, free jazz, prog and psychedelia. And they ate not strictly instrumental. Their albums – all recorded live in the studio – feature some stuff that will blow your mind. Hedvig Mollestad Thomassen is by the way one hot guitarist. They truly rock.
A new release from Luna Pines is always a fabulous thing; for a start you know that it’s going to be great at the very least. The review is usually just a matter of confirming that and telling you what it sounds like. And on a personal music fan level I love the band and where they take me with every release.
For ‘Silver & Gold’ they’ve gone in what I might – and in a rather lazy way – describe as synth pop style. In that it’s definitely poppy, and there are synths and guitars. But as you might expect with Luna Pines they have their own way of doing things.
Strangely the first thing I thought of on hearing this track was that it had something of Buggles (for those of you who might be too young to remember Buggles, they were a duo that featured Trevor Horn – perhaps better known as a producer – who made electro-pop. They are probably remembered more for ‘Video Killed The Radio Star’ than anything else). It also has something of the sparkling pop sound of Dollar – a pop duo that Trevor Horn produced – who are something of a guilty pleasure for me.
Enough of this musical trip back in time. As I said the sound here is synth pop but they’ve taken that purely as a starting point. For a start the vocals are fx’ed into something sing-song and strangely unsettling for all of that sweet sound – there are layers to discover in this song. And then there is their usual many layered sound; this is a track to sink into and take in the layers, the sounds that are warped and mutated deep in the mix or unexpected.
So yes, this is a track that rewards closer listening than it may initially indicate. Not only do you get to wallow in the lovely sounds but also you’ll get a feel that in all of that sparkly pop sound there’s a deeper emotional level. But even if you don’t do ‘deep listening’ this is a joy — a tune to love, a beat that’ll have you up and dancing. This song has a beauty all of its own.
This Talkboy song is from the charity compilation Formed By A River Volume 2 (read more about that).
I’m somewhat ashamed to say that this is the first thing I’ve ever heard by the band. In my defence there is so much music out there that I just don’t have the time to listen to every band. This review however rights that wrong.
While you might describe this broadly as Indie – or within some sort of indie sound framework – the fact is that there’s a lot more to this than ‘an indie song’. It’s so full of clever and inventive things that it becomes something entirely different.
My helpful friend – to whom I am very grateful – described this as a cross between top level indie and The Divine Comedy with a dash of The Smiths. It has that indie structure with a tune to die for and things you just don’t expect, that come out of nowhere. This includes – the atmospheric intro with delicate guitar, the distinctly retro keyboards that pop up occasionally, the multi-layered vocal only section that serves as ‘the dropout’ before it revs up into a blasting finale. In fact it has something of an alt-rock quiet/loud thing going on.
This is all sounding somewhat awkward and this is because I can’t really place it genre-wise. This is not a bad thing, it’s just that it threw my initial plan of doing a simple review based on the fact that this is a great indie song completely out of the window.
So let’s stick with ‘a fantastic song that is inventive sonically with a hint of indie somewhere in there’. I feel a lot better with that. And yes, within that broad description there are still hints of The Divine Comedy with a dash of The Smiths..
This inventive and unexpected sound wouldn’t work unless the band were musically able; and yes they are, they’re far more than able. They switch between feels seamlessly and brilliantly. The vocals are pure joy – going from one feel to another and yet still hanging together.
This, people, is glorious, go listen, go listen, repeatedly, you’ll never tire of this.
The band say: “Before Talkboy, we had two separate projects: Kell and Wes. ‘Average Wave’ was one of the first songs that we wrote in Wes, which was used in Talkboy because we felt it could be elaborated and taken to a new level within our newfound setting. The essence of this piece well and truly flows through everything we have done in the past, and everything we are currently doing right now. Having the opportunity to showcase it on this compilation is a real treat for us.”
Tramlines Festival 2021 has announced that it will join the third phase of the Government’s Events Research Programme, allowing the sold-out music festival at Hillsborough Park to take place at full capacity on 23rd to 25th July.
The Streets, Royal Blood and Richard Ashcroft will headline a world-class lineup of music and culture throughout a landmark weekend for the city.
Tramlines’ participation in the programme means the festival can go ahead independently of national reopening dates and the audience will be able to enjoy the event without compulsory social distancing or masks.
At the entrance to the festival, ticket holders (except children under 11) will be asked for proof of EITHER:
A negative COVID result from a lateral flow test taken within the previous 48 hours or
Two vaccination doses, with the second received at least 14 days before
Tramlines Operations Director, Timm Cleasby:
“We are absolutely delighted to be able to confirm that Tramlines 2021 is going ahead, having accepted the government’s invitation to join the Events Research Programme. This means we have a proven framework to follow, which at previous events has shown that festivals can be enjoyed at no more risk than other activities. Once inside, there will be no need for social distancing and no one will have to wear a mask if they don’t want to.
We would like to express our solidarity with those festivals which have not been able to go ahead this year and those which are still seeking clarity. It is very important to us that clear guidance is made available quickly to the entire event community so that as many festivals as possible can go ahead with confidence this summer. Huge ticket sales across the sector show how keen fans are to come to our events and we want to help reassure them that we can welcome them back safely.”
Sheffield Director of Public Health Greg Fell:
“Sheffield is once again playing a significant and important role in the Government’s Events Research Programme with Tramlines Festival 2021. Helping cultural events to be staged safely is an essential part of our return to life where we can freely enjoy the things we love, and the findings so far have shown positive outcomes that allow us to take these next steps towards normality. We’re working closely with the DCMS and the Tramlines team to support this milestone event for the city and our music fans. My advice to ticket holders is get your vaccines and, as hard as it might be, if you’ve got symptoms please stay at home.”
Culture Minister Caroline Dinenage:
“I know how desperately people want to get back to festivals, which is why they’re a hugely important part of our Events Research Programme. As we continue to work towards live events reopening fully on July 19th, this year’s Tramlines festival will provide more vital scientific evidence and allow us to trial Covid certification, building on what we’ve learnt from our successful Sefton Park and Download events.”
All ticket holders will be contacted by Tramlines’ event ticketing partner Gigantic via email by Thursday 1st July with further details. Ahead of the event, ticket holders will also be emailed to provide contact information for themselves and anyone they have bought tickets for.
Anyone who has purchased a ticket but does not wish to take part will be able to roll over their ticket to Tramlines 2022 at no extra cost or receive a refund for the face value of their ticket.
More information, including how to show proof of vaccination or a negative test, is available at www.tramlines.org.uk/info/faqs.
If you’ve been keeping up you’ll know I love a great pop song. What I’m looking for in a pop song is a great tune, a great vocal and, crucially, a sense that time has been taken to make something that is crafted. I guess you could say that I mean it isn’t throwaway. OLI’s debut single release ticks all of my boxes, and then some.
It’s definitely pop – it has hints of an indie-pop feel but it has all sorts of other things happening; a certain 60s’ pop feel, a dash of R’n’B/soul, a hit of jazz. It’s both retro and up to date or, if you prefer, it’s timeless. If you wanted to shoehorn it into a genre you could, if you so wish, call it Nu-Soul; although that’s a bit of a stretch in my very humble opinion..
The first thing you’re going to notice is that this track features that classic organ sound – something that you don’t find on many pop tracks these days. The next thing – and not surprisingly as Oli is a drummer – is that the drumming on this track absolutely sparkles; those drums really lift the song to the next level. As do the vocals, the frankly fantastic guitar break. And the way this track goes from ‘force you up on your feet’ beaty joy to moody dropout. This song has structure; structure that takes you through a musical journey.
But in order to be great pop it has to have a tune, and it has; a tune that is positively earwormy, dangerously so. Words that you’ll be singing in seconds; this thing is so so catchy.
‘4 Better Or 4 Worse’ is bloody fantastic; pop with all sorts of inventive things going on. It’s played by a group of people that really know what they’re doing musically. This is something that’s been crafted, time has been taken to make it sound this good.
With a debut this good OLI are one to watch. I’m holding my breath for the next release.
Emerging from the depths of Britain’s Coronavirus lockdown, OLI is a 21-year-old Leeds based drummer and songwriter, writing songs spanning the genres of rock, pop and fusion. Likening his songs to those of artists such as Sting, Muse, Tool and MILI, he combines his rhythmic prowess as a drummer, with strong melodic lead parts written by a collection of talented musicians, pushing the boundaries of the modern popular music genre.
I’ve been reviewing – and raving about; both in print and to anyone who’ll listen – Liam’s music for some time now. Over the past few months Liam has been releasing a string of songs on a regular basis – every 6 weeks to be precise – which has been wonderful but I wanted to find out why. So the time seemed very much right to delve into his musical world and find out more about him.
But first. for those of you that haven’t come across him or his music, I’ll set the scene. I guess that if I was to reach for an easy way of describing his style I’d say ‘singer/songwriter’. I realise that this is more of a job title (so to speak) but it does come with some sort of assumption about a musical style. But I have to admit this is a lazy approach, and I think I need to be specific.
Liam writes songs about personal experiences and about how things we all experience affect him. His words are deeply moving, poetic and compelling. He sings these words over carefully crafted music that can be sparse or with a band feel in various styles – folk, Americana, rock to name a few. The key thing with his music is that the sound and feel always suits the words and the topic of the song.
He’s one of those artists that I always include when people ask me about artists or bands I’ve discovered – and love – while working on LSF. There are lots of great singer/songwriters in Yorkshire but I feel Liam has something very special musically – it’s that combination of beautiful words and fabulous music in perfect harmony.
That said, let’s dive in…
LSF: I’m trying not to use the word journey here, but how did you get to here musically speaking?
Liam: I’ve been making music since my early teens and never really stopped. I started playing drums when I was around 10 and then guitar when I was around 14. I used to record my own songs on a little 4 track recorder, showing my age now! From then later into my teens I played drums in a few metalcore/hardcore type bands before making the jump to fronting a band. After that I was in a band called No Trays or Foxes, we wrote loads of songs and did loads of gigs but just never seemed to get going, there’s still plenty of stuff online if people are interested! Once that band ground to a halt, in the ways bands often do, I recorded my first solo EP ‘Restless’ and in the wake of that put a band together and started gigging. The follow on EP ‘The News I Needed’ was released in 2018. Since then I have decided to put more emphasis on releasing singles as then I can have a higher output and keep things moving along!
LSF: One of the things I really like about your songs is that they seem very personal – reflecting either situations as you experience them or your emotional life. Is this an important aspect of your songwriting for you? And, if you don’t mind me asking. Why?
Liam: Songwriting has always been cathartic for me and the only thing I really know how to write about is the world as I see it. I feel that my strength as a songwriter and a lyricist comes from trying to speak the truth in my songs, I can only speak my own truth but I feel that other people can usually relate to honesty. If I look back at my back catalogue I can tell you exactly what was going on in my life. I have tried to write more abstract lyrics but I just find myself coming back to simple poetic truth.
LSF: Have you ever considered a topic or experience for a song, or even got as far as writing and recording a song, and decided that it’s too revealing? Or decided ‘well that’s one just for me’ in the same way therapists sometimes suggest writing a letter to somebody but not sending it – the act of writing it is cathartic, and that’s enough
Liam: I haven’t yet found a subject that is too personal. In my back catalogue, I have songs about the death of family members, breakdowns in relationships and other subjects such as losing my voice. The act of writing definitely helps to ease the pain sometimes but I have never shied away from releasing material like that. Sometimes it can cause a little bit of friction if the other person that the song is about feels that I am airing dirty laundry so to speak.
LSF: Musically you seem to surprise the listener with every release – sometimes it’s sparse and acoustic, sometimes a full-on sound. And vary the style of the music. Is this because, as I have always thought, because you write and arrange the music to suit the song, or just because you fancy changing it up?
Liam: The last few releases are the product of a few years of recording in different set ups. Sometimes I record with my band, other times I have just recorded with me and the guitar and a couple of the releases I worked on remotely during lockdown with my friend. I’ve had a lot of these songs backed up for a while because I was unsure how they all fit together. Then I realised that even though they do all sound relatively different, they are all worthwhile songs and that I shouldn’t be saving them for a rainy day, I should put them out there and continue to move forward. I am still trying to produce songs with different people and in different scenarios as this keeps songwriting interesting for me.
LSF: How do your songs come together? Does the idea come first and then you write words? Or do the words come to you first? Or even, just to cover all the bases, does the music come first?
Liam: The process varies from song to song. I’d say usually I have a lyric in my head, usually just one or two lines that float around in there for a while, then it will get coupled with a little riff or melody and I go from there. I used to beat myself up as I am quite a slow songwriter, sometimes songs can take months and months to come together. Now I realise that that is ok, but to be sure to make time to write. I find huge benefit in setting time aside to sit and try and write something, even if something terrible comes out it is better than just waiting for inspiration to hit.
LSF: Why did you decide to release a new song every 6 weeks? To me as a non-musician this seems like an almost impossible schedule to keep up with.
Liam: As I mentioned I had quite a few songs backed up so I decided to put those all out first, this schedule also gives me a push to be more consistently creative. I also think that, with the world the way it is, if you are putting out 1 song or an EP a year it isn’t really enough, people will quickly forget you and you won’t be able to build up any momentum. I feel like this way people are invested in the journey and as a result will connect more with the songs. It’s a slow process but I definitely feel as though people are starting to know me as a consistent songwriter, so that’s something! I also went to see Tom Robinson do a talk at the 360 club in Leeds last year. He said that the best thing you can do for your career as a songwriter is to produce and put out as much material as possible. It only takes one song to break through to the next level and your chances of finding that one song are greatly increased with consistency.
LSF: When’s the next release due? Could you tell me something about the song and the inspiration
Liam: My next release is a song called ‘Jerusalem’ I postponed the release a while ago because of the situation in Israel, but I’m trying again on July 2nd. This one is another personal one for me. My friend asked me to do the great honour of being Godfather to his twin children. This started me thinking about religion and spirituality. I had never considered myself religious before, but I did read some biblical stories and find some meaning and comfort in them. ‘Jerusalem’ is taking some of these stories and relaying them to my life.
LSF: It’s time for the ‘usual cliched question’. Influences, favourite artists and bands.
Liam: One of my all time songwriting heroes is Loudon Wainwright III, he alternates between very silly, almost comedic songs, and very emotional and beautiful songs. I love the honesty and rawness of his lyrics and this has been a big inspiration to me. Another band I like but who have a very different style are Sleaford Mods. This is again driven by the lyricism and the way Jason Williamson uses language. I have also been listening pretty relentlessly to Future Islands for quite some time!
LSF: Now that, hopefully, we can see the light at the end of the long dark tunnel of lockdown; do you have any plans to play live?
Liam: Yes I have a couple of dates in the pipeline with my band. Nothing set in stone just yet but I’m working on it! I am also out playing solo quite regularly, I do plenty of pub gigs around Yorkshire and I’m loving playing live again.
LSF: Apart from continuing on the ‘release every 6 weeks project’ do you have any other musical plans, or anything upcoming that you’d be prepared to share?
Liam: My plan is just to keep on keeping on. The every 6 week project keeps me quite busy so I’m aiming to keep my consistency up, there’s plenty more where that came from!
But this is a band who draw their influences from before, and these are on show here; they throw a little post-punk into the drums and more than a little punk into those guitars. And, you see, the result is all the more riotous for this.
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