Recording as we walked, Jack Barnett of These New Puritans joined me on this special episode of the podcast that captures the sounds of our shared hometown, Southend-on-Sea, Essex.It’s hardly a place known for the type of progressive music that Jack and his twin brother George have made since forming the band in 2006, but during our conversation he confirms my suspicions – TNP have such a distinct, heads-down approach to making music, it really doesn’t matter where Jack bases himself to write and produce these albums of classical, industrial, jazz and ballad explorations. Records made in Berlin, London and Greece all have a distinct TNP feeling of bleak beauty. Kind of like Southend itself.The band’s new album is called Crooked Wing (out 23 May via the Domino label) and has taken another 6 years to make. It features Caroline Polachek, choirs, church organs, field recordings and songs about cranes falling in love.Upcoming live datesThe new video for ‘A Season In Hell’ starting Alexander Skarsgård‘Industrial Love Song’ feat. Caroline Polachek‘Bells’Sign up at loudandquiet.substack.com to hear the full episode. Already a subscriber? Link your subscription to your phone's podcast app of choice by visiting any Substack post and tapping the icon of your preferred app. This is a public episode. If you'd like to discuss this with other subscribers or get access to bonus episodes, visit loudandquiet.substack.com/subscribe
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34:40
Patrick Wolf, Part 2: major label versus indie life
This is a free preview of a paid episode. To hear more, visit loudandquiet.substack.comIn the second part of my conversation with Patrick Wolf, the London-born musician who I met at his new home on the east Kent coast looked back at his previous major label record deals that took him from a life of DIY creation to a world where he suddenly had £250k to spend on a music video. What did he make of those days, and how does he feel about returning to music as an independent artist in a new world of hyper-self-marketing and content creation? And then there was the question of new album Crying the Neck, Wolf’s first album in 13 years, and a punchy closer: is he happy with his career so far? Typically, he answered that one with the same candour that ran through our entire time together.
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12:02
Patrick Wolf, Part 1: a new life by the sea
Patrick Wolf is making his return to music after a 13-year period that you wouldn’t wish upon anyone. Since his last album in 2012, he’s experienced grief following the loss of his mother to cancer in 2018, battled addiction to alcohol and hard drugs, been declared bankrupt, and was the victim of a hit and run.When I spoke to him last week for this two-part episode of the podcast, I was struck by how he takes responsibility for all of it. Even being hit by a car.Thank you to Patrick for being so open during our conversation, which took place in his garden studio in east Kent. We spoke for so long that I’ve chopped it into parts one and two, starting off with how the past 13 years have been, and how he got through it by building a new life for himself near the coastal town of Ramsgate, inspired by an Alan Bennett film.Subscribe/upgrade to a paid subscription to unlock all L&Q podcasts, including the unedited part two of this episode that will be out next week.Listen on the Substack site or app, or search Loud And Quiet Podcast wherever you get The Rest is Politics. This is a public episode. If you'd like to discuss this with other subscribers or get access to bonus episodes, visit loudandquiet.substack.com/subscribe
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34:33
Amyl and the Sniffers' Amy Taylor rapping 'Ice Ice Baby', aged 16
This is a free preview of a paid episode. To hear more, visit loudandquiet.substack.comBoring fact: We originally started this Substack in 2020 solely as a place to host a subscriber-only podcast called Sweet 16, exclusively for readers who’d subscribed to our physical magazine during the pandemic. Each episode features a different artist recalling what the hell they were doing at the age of 16, inspired by a column of hopes, dreams and PTSD we used to run in the magazine. Somewhere along the line 2 episodes dropped off, hosted somewhere else for reasons that are too boring even for this. One was with Stephen Malkmus and the other was with Amy Taylor from Australian garage punk band Amyl & the Sniffers. It’s time these 2 stragglers were united with the rest of the pack, so here’s Amy’s episode, with a bit of extra blabbing from me.
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8:45
Breaking up the band, with Porridge Radio
This is a free preview of a paid episode. To hear more, visit loudandquiet.substack.comWhen Porridge Radio announced that their new EP would also be their final release, following 4 albums and a 2020 Mercury Prize nomination, my first thought wasn’t ‘why?’ but ‘I wonder how that must feel?’. Followed shortly by, ‘what was Dana Margolin’s career highlight?’, and ‘should more bands split up at a point when their fans feel like they’ve still got more to give?’Last week Dana agreed to talk to me about the end of her band, having originally decided that it was too soon to discuss the matter.
New Zealand