S*T*U*F*F* Reloaded

Well, the excellent news from south-east London is that Alan Van Kleef and I finished the mixes for the first 6 tracks of the new album today, and I have to say I’m delighted with the way it sounds. Jules Maxwell’s production has really shaped it into something pretty special - an amazing journey of the spirit to get to where we are now. I think a lot of people will feel differently about the album, as it has been sculpted to stay slightly away from the obvious pop vein it could have gone into.

The vocals sit high above the backing tracks for most of the record… Jules made this decision, and I went with him… the result? Well, I’m keen to see what you think.

So I can reveal the title - which will be Sayonara Deadweight. Sayonara is Japanese for “goodbye” - my connection with Japan means this word has both beauty and pain wrapped up in it. The “Deadweight” is everything musically that has been hanging around me all these years… and thanks to Jules, I will be letting it go in the final piece of the album, a long collage of work.

There is no messing about with these tracks - no long intros, no middle eight sections, no bridges - no bluffing. In the writing of them, I was listening to a lot of Beatles, and especially the extraordinary “Revolver”… which, although it is probably their best album, is only 34 minutes long. They seemed to have the gift of letting a song have its life without having to get in the way or stretch it out - which I think has ruined more than a few songs over the years. The concept of the “three and a half minute pop song” - where did that come from? One of the new tracks on the album is under three minutes long… well, no-one can say they aren’t getting their money’s-worth as it will be released completely free. But I really enjoyed being economical, almost frugal with the ideas… if I didn’t have a verse 3, well, I just didn’t try to write one, letting the song be.

So there you go. Not long to the big “free download” button.