ADAM BEATTIE is a musician with a deep, noir romance beating in his chest, a romance tinged with the sadness of what we have lost; and this is particularly illustrated on his lovely latest single drop, “Lovers Old & Lovers New” – evoking those brilliantly bleary, boozy times in night town at bars and music venues shuttered and lost to time. (Collective sigh).
Have a watch of the video, in which Adam is seen taking notes out and about in Shoreditch, photo album to hand, revisiting former destination niteries where the barman knew his tipple; where the fug of smoke hung like a blanket, where old lovers smiled from corners.
“But now the walls are painted white / Not a whisky stain in sight,” he yearns, for a way of life on ice for now, and which will inevitably see too many of our favourite spots consigned to a fading photo.
It’s the final single release in advance of the Aberdeenshire balladeer’s album, Somewhere Round The Bend, which is out Friday coming; we were seduced by the title track when he dropped it in mid-September, noting of it, for the record: “You’ll find finely crafted songwriting with Telecaster twang, off-kilter castanets, perfect for a Scottish film-maker with a Lynchian vision. Think past-midnight ceiling fans clearing the smoke; red walls, tumblers slopping a generous dram.”
Of “Lovers Old & Lovers New”, he says: “I wrote this about the legendary and now closed-down Jamboree venue in Limehouse in London where I played regularly for almost ten years; this song is one for the community of regulars who made sure they partied hard while the ship was sinking.
“It feels even more pertinent right now when many other venues are threatened.
“The video also includes footage from summer street festivals that were not able to happen this year.”
He’s a real musician’s musician, is Adam; he’s had invites to play alongside the likes of Bert Jansch and Jolie Holland; no lesser light than Brian Eno is on record as saying ‘Can I please buy two albums?’.
He’s a member of Pica Pica, alongside Josienne Clarke, and Scottish supergroup Band of Burns, whose The Thread was recently lauded as one of MOJO’s top folk albums of the year.
Of Somewhere Round The Bend, expect more beautifully couched tales of loves forged and loves lost in the dark, beautiful shadows of the pubs and bars of these isles.
Adam Beattie’s Somewhere Round The Bend will be released on digital download, CD and vinyl next Friday, December 4th; you can order yours here.
