Excited to let you know I have a new record called ‘Many Times’ coming out on the 31st May 2024 via Communion Records. It’s available to pre-order now on Vinyl & CD from the MATA store here and you can also hear a new song called ‘Blackwater Valley’ from the album today here.
‘Many Times’ was recorded live to tape at Rockfield Studios in the beautiful Welsh countryside. Myself, producer Kev Jones and engineer Jack Boston tracked over a two day period with the aim of capturing a moment in time and a sense of place into the recording. We kept it simple with just a guitar and a vocal, and I hope you enjoy it as much as I enjoyed making it!
NEW SINGLE ‘CHANGE COMING’ OUT NOW
When writing this song, the lines ‘We’ve got to let go of this’ and ‘There’s gonna be a change coming’ happened straight away. The words appeared and it felt like I didn't have much choice in the matter, which is the way is goes with songs sometimes. I was thinking about my children and their future, which was the bedrock of the song, and the rest emerged quickly after that.
I can feel self-conscious writing songs about climate change, I know I don’t do enough, which makes me question if I can legitimately comment on it, but also it can feel like the individual changes I do make are just a drop in the ocean, having little effect on the future. That thought though, always takes me back to the last line in one of my favourite novels, David Mitchell's Cloud Atlas “My life amounts to no more than one drop in a limitless ocean. Yet what is any ocean, but a multitude of drops?”
10 years ago this April my debut record Other Rivers was released! To celebrate, I am printing a limited run of 250 signed copies of Other Rivers on vinyl. The 10 Year Anniversary Edition has a colour wash over the original design with a coloured vinyl.
Live acoustic version of ‘Pushkar’
Live acoustic version of ‘Record Store’
Live acoustic version of ‘This Place We Live’
A few weeks ago I spent a sunny evening at Westminster Bridge wandering between the tourists and commuters, playing an acoustic version of This Place We Live. It was a fun experience trying to weave between the bustle, hopefully not intruding too much on everyone’s busy lives. Hope you enjoy!
Filmed and Directed by James Hough