Around
I don’t know how many pop songs have been written about shitting yourself, but I think this might be the most upbeat.
It’s probably also one of the most upbeat song I’ve ever written. Which is kind of strange, considering I wrote it at a time when I was staring one of my most serious periods of darkness in the face.
I was a few months in to a flare up of Ulcerative Colitis — an inflammatory bowel disease I was first diagnosed with in 2014 — which had returned after more than three years in remission. I had all these physical symptoms back — including some top quality pant shitting moments — and I could feel this huge fog of fatigue and depression setting in
Writing this song, I found myself refusing to ignore that; refusing to make the same mistakes I made when I was diagnosed the first time; refusing to simply push those feelings down and just to keeping on keeping on.
I faced up to the reality. I spoke up. I had honest, open, and often very difficult conversations about how I was feeling. I started asking people their best pant shitting stories.
‘Around’ actually came out a few weeks ago, and I’ve only just gotten round to writing, editing and posting about it here on the blog. As I’ve spoken about before, I find releasing music pretty tough emotionally and mentally, and yesterday was a really tough day for me: after six weeks of treatment, the amazing team at the hospital got me in for new blood tests and a whole new treatment plan.
I have this weird tendency to write songs where their true meaning becomes deeper after they’re out. After yesterday, I came back to this song: realising how much it means to me, and how different things are the second time around. A huge part of that is being more open and honest with both myself and others, and so, was when I realised that, I had to get this blog post up without delay.
Over the past six months, I’ve learnt so much about myself; my body; my thoughts and emotions; and about never trusting anyone who doesn’t have a great pant shitting story to share.
Rush
'Rush', a brand new track featuring the noodlings of Matt Meat and David Fletcher, is streaming now on Spotify, Apple Music, and other good places music is found.
'Rush' is a song about taking a moment to pause; to notice, but not judge, the thoughts and feelings that can, so quickly, fly past; and to be kind.
Play (Streaming on Spotify and Apple Music)
Freshly remastered, Play is now streaming on Spotify, Apple Music and a pretty much any platform you can name.
Playlist: Spring 2018
Even with the snow returning this weekend, I'm feeling ready for longer days and warmer weather. These songs should help bring some of those spring vibes.
‘Play’ on BBC Introducing
Last night, BBC Introducing Solent emailed to say that ‘Play’ would be featured on the BBC Introducing Solent show.
As well as playing the track — and saying some very kind words about it — the show shared some of what I have written about here: the way way music and mental health have walked hand-in-hand in starting this blog. It is a slightly terrifying moment, to hear your story shared so widely, but it has also been great to hear the positive response too.
Thank you BBC Introducing Solent for your kind words, and thank you for sharing my part in a much bigger, but important, conversation.
Spotify Playlist: Autumn 2016 (Updated)
New tracks added to my Spotify playlist for autumn.
New tracks include the beautiful 'Moving On' from Babeheaven and the infectious, bonafide bop 'Sweet Relief' by Kimora.
Pyra — ‘Bodies’
This week, Pyra released ‘Bodies’: a song I produced and which we wrote together.
After over a year of working together, and with five or six tracks recorded, Emma and I worked together on ‘Bodies’. This is a song that I see as bringing together so many of the elements that I love about our work together: the track, the lead vocal and the backing vocals. I love this song, so I'm very happy to get to share it.
(Photography by Luka McGhie)
Acapellas:
Summer Shorts: Compilation
As the year turns to Autumn, it felt right to bring together the short Instagram films from the Summer Shorts series.
Over the summer I set myself a challenge: find a location, compose a piece of music and create an accompanying short film.
These 11 short films and their accompanying compositions represent a body of work created during the summer of 2016.
Music was all composed using the app Auxy (www.auxy.co) and films were shot on a Nikon D5100 with a Nikon 50mm f1.8 FX Lens.
Spotify Playlist: Autumn 2016
Since giving up regular DJ sets and my radio show, I've missed sinking myself in to the art of great music selection. So playlists like this might make it as a regular feature here on this blog.
More so than anything else, I love the conversations that music creates: so feel free to use the comments or Twitter to send me your favourite tracks and playlists.