The return of Seafieldroad

Seafieldroad

I got an email today from Andrew Eaton-Lewis, who performs as Seafieldroad and also as one half of Swimmer One. Ironically, for someone who until recently was a journalist for the Scotsman, he was the very first person I interviewed for this blog.

Having released a rather fine album as Seafieldroad back in 2010 (read the review here), he’s due to release his next album The Winter of 88 this October. Between now and then there’s quite a few things happening in Scotland which will see people’s eyes on this fair country, not least the Commonwealth Games and the Scottish Independence referendum.

In his email, he spoke of how his stance on how he was going to vote in the referendum has changed, and his surprise that not many people were writing songs about it.

So Andrew did! It’s taken from his forthcoming album and it’s entitled ‘This Road Won’t Build Itself.’

You can read the lyrics below, it’s the last two verses that particularly resonate with this writer:

My wife and I are way off the map
We’re building a country completely from scratch
We won’t get to live there, we’re sad about that
But it will be better than anything we had
when we were kids

And everyone round here is building it too
They’ve got tools to work with, they know what to do
They just need the courage to see it through
And not be ground down by the lies and abuse
when we were kids

This road won’t build itself
Pick up your spade, pick up your axe
There’s hope on the horizon
But only if we walk there

This road won’t build itself
Pick up your spade, pick up your axe
Put houses up along the way
A place to keep our children safe

They’ll tell you you don’t need to
This road’s already built
Your houses are right here
Put down your spade, put down your axe

But look at the fear on their faces
The grey hairs and the bruises
Their houses are collapsing
And they’re still painting over the cracks

Presenting…Whatever Gets You Through The Night

whatever-gets-you-through-the-night

This was in my inbox this evening when I came home. It’s an album called Whatever Gets You through The Night, and it comes out on November 5 on Biphonic Records (home to Swimmer One and Seafieldroad).

Sixteen tracks in total, this was a live show that took place at the Arches in Glasgow back in June of this year.. This is the accompanying album – 16 brand new songs inspired by the hours between midnight and 4am, by a cross section of Scottish musicians.

And when I say cross-section, it’s Ricky Ross (of Deacon Blue) on the same album as Wounded Knee, Errors on the same album as Rachel Sermanni, Eugene Kelly as Meursault. Lots of 17 Seconds favourites, Swimmer One and Emma Pollock were the first acts I ever interviewed for the blog, over five years ago. There’s a feature over at The Skinny which explains how it came together.

Stream it below, you can also download the Swimmer One track for free.

The return of Seafieldroad

seafield-rd

Following on from last year’s rather fine There Are No Maps For This Part Of The City album, Seafieldroad -The project of Andrew Eaton-Lewis from Swimmer One- will issue the follow-up album this November.

They have made the following single available to download for free until the release of the album. The first track ‘ Cramond Island Causeway’ is very lovely indeed, as is the ‘b-side’, a cover of Empire Of the Sun’s ‘Walking On A Dream.’

The album is as yet untitled; there will be a live show at Edinburgh’s Voodoo Rooms on November 20.

Enjoy!

Album review – Seafieldroad

seafieldroad

Seafieldroad -‘There are No Maps for This Part Of The City’ (Biphonic)

Seafieldroad is the project of Andrew Eaton, lead singer with Scotland’s Swimmer One. Having released two albums with them, he has unleashed his debut solo record, and it is unquestionably the best thing he has ever done.

Different from the electro-stylings of Swimmer One (which is not to detract their work over the last decade), I perhaps shouldn’t start off by comparing it to other albums, but when you see the ones I do, you will understand:

Brian Eno’s Music For Airports. The Blue Nile’s Hats. Virginia Astley’s From Gardens Where We Feel Secure. Yes. That good, that special. In a word: pastoral. Working with orchestral scoring from Pete Harvey (Meursault, the Leg), this album is sublime from the opening and wonderfully titled ‘Brian Wilson Karaoke’ to the closing ‘Fucking Manchester’ (which, despite its’ title, is still heartbreaking).

Released at the end of November, I’m hoping that, nonetheless, this will appear on the year’s end best of lists, because it really deserves to be there.

****1/2

There Are No Maps For This Part Of The City is out now on Biphonic.

Stream two tracks here