The record, a rich and vivid exploration of city of Birmingham and surrounding areas of the English Midlands, features the words of friend and poet Darren Cannan set to James Summerfield’s striking yet elegant take on Americana.
Lyrically, Analogue Tales: Sounds From Arden covers ground familiar to most residents of the city, with the Jewellery Quarter, Longbridge Rover car plant, the M42, Ladywood, Birmingham city centre and Sutton Coldfield featuring in the allegories, observations, asides and stories that make up the album.
The extraordinary pictures of the region’s people, landscapes and identity has further detail added by the voices of guest narrators: The Beat frontman Ranking Roger, broadcaster Robin Valk, James Summerfield’s grandmother Marjorie Summerfield, authorsMike Gayle and Catherine O’Flynn, and songwriter and actor Paul Murphy.
lyrics
Verse 1
On Winter's timid offering for a day,
the air is a trench, from which she can’t erase.
A ride in her car is a type of escape- when stranded is
(quick) snared by the shadows from-the dis figured snooker club’s face,
It’s a stalemate of immovable conditions pitched against unachievable wisdom.
Verse 2
She avoided the collage of Iron Lane's
windowless buildings,
graffiti tats were third-rate,
offering promises,by looking down
at the fresh-lit cigarette rolling around
no hand could manoeuvre.
Bright hot ash pit,
-like sparks from an anvil traced behind it;
Instrumental mid-8
Verse 3
she just had to join dots,
and follow the path
to the teenager,
who had fell upon the grass
Her bravery is no servant to mediocrity.
Leaving her car alive --and ru--nning,
she can prevent death ---from smearing its
intended consequences---- on him and
others, by holding the boy--- firm to her body,
as she waits ---for the mania --of the convulsions to hide.
credits
from Analogue Tales: Sounds From Arden,
released June 22, 2015
James Summerfield
Darren Cannan
Simon Fox
Richard Pharaoh
Craig Hamilton
David Booth
Katherine Griffiths
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