I’ve been in the studio this past week recording new material for my forthcoming album. I’m working at the Cowshed Studio again with engineer / producer Joe Leach (who also produced / engineered Keepsakes), working to 2” tape the old fashioned-way.  For me the choice to work on tape is not so much about the sound as the approach it encourages you to take. It’s analagous to the difference between film and digital camera - when you work on film, you’re more inclined to take your time and work on getting something great pretty quickly (the stuff’s not cheap thesedays), rather than snapping away mindlessly and then moving the decision-making process on to the point of editing your pictures later. And so it is working on tape, you look to get a great performance in one or two takes rather than doing endless takes and editing stuff together afterwards. Counterintuitively perhaps, and contrary to what a lot of people say, I find it’s actually faster working on tape, because it leaves you with fewer decisions to make after you’ve got something recorded - either it’s great or you do it again!

I’ve been lucky enough to gather together some wonderful musicians for this record, many of whom played on Keepsakes including my long-standing rhythm section of Matt Ridley (double bass) and Sam Nadel (drums), plus Sam Sweeney on violin. Some more guest musicans came in to add their sounds to the mix but you’ll just have to wait and see…

Really excited to share this record with you all now, watch this space for more details and a release date soon.

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