South Wales’ The People The Poet have released a stream of the latest single from their eagerly anticipated Kickstarter funded debut album ‘The Narrator’.
This release has been timed to coincide with the birth of their former guitarists Luc first child which is particularly apt given the meaning behind the song. Luc’s son arrived into the world on October 1st. Congratulations to Luc and Rowena on the arrival of their son!
Fans of The People The Poet (formally known as Tiger Please) will be aware that for the last three or so years the band have been collecting story submissions from their fans to turn into songs for ‘The Narrator’ to share. The first EP’s released under their previous name (They Don’t Change Under Moonlight & Seasons) offered insights into the bands life experiences to date with Seasons in particular exploring frontman Leon Stanford’s ups and downs in his love life.
At this point I feel I must come clean and declare my interests in this release. Firstly I’ve been a huge fan of these guys since I first discovered them on Myspace (remember that?) in 2009 and secondly this song is based on my story.
In 2010 the band announced their concept for The Narrator and I was lucky enough to have heard a few of the new (fan based stories) songs being broken in and crafted live. An informal chat with Leon at the back of a venue in December 2010 when I asked how the album writing was coming along led to a conversation about the songs written so far. The stories were all fascinating but also incredibly sad covering subjects such as the death of a loved one, cancer, abuse and the consequences of drug driving to name but a few. I remember asking if there were at the time any happy songs. Leon picked up on our previous conversations about my son and then an email exchange ensued and as they say, the rest is history and now a song.
Stabilisers (I WIll Be) is the result of my open and honest feelings about becoming a father for the first time and the hopes and fears any parent has in the early years. Leon has managed to capture this perfectly within the lyrics, so perfectly I wonder whether he’s been reading my mind at times.
The lyrics are complimented by the music in an almost indescribable way. Now, I’ve heard this song played live a couple of times and was blown away but hearing the final mastered recorded version takes it to another level completely.
Recorded and produced by Todd Campbell at Stompbox Studios, Stabilisers (I Will Be) starts off slowly in an almost lullaby style way before building lyrically and musically with layers of instruments delighting your ears. The middle eight section is just sublime with violins, drums, bass guitar and guitar all combining and just adding to the building of the songs tempo. Clearly with the personal edge to this review I have battled (and most likely lost) with my bias but if I have to pick out a favourite lyric that sums it up for me then it surely is this – “Oh I will be your watering can, oh I will watch you grow from a little boy into a man…”
If the rest of the songs on the forthcoming album that’s due for an October release are as well produced as this and capture the story submitters stories as this has then we’re all in for a treat.
Priceless/10
For news on the release date for ‘Stabilisers (I Will Be)’ to buy keep an eye on the Soundscape news feed and/or check the links below.
Have a listen here.
