July 2010
INKYSMUDGE Releases Album Appetizer ‘So Much For Country’
A surreal conversation in the early hours of an April morning in Germany inspires the release of an ‘album appetizer’.
“I was on a short European tour with a friend of mine and we ended up having one of those post-gig conversations where the night has gone so well that you end up talking about what you’re gonna do next. You know, when the beer means any idea seems perfectly sensible,” laughs Inky. “So, we got into this thing about putting out a country music EP called Happy Hour and, even on the train back to Paris, the idea still seemed perfectly plausible,” he says shaking his head.
“Anyway, I got home and started writing but the material went in a completely different direction. So, I shelved the plan and let the songs dictate the end result. That’s how So Much For Country came about. The title alludes to the idea that you set out to do one thing and end up doing something completely different. A lot like life itself I guess, it seemed like a good metaphor.”
The four songs on the EP, namely Under The Power Lines, Happy Hour, Your Witness and Fiction find Inky expanding on the sound of 2009’s A New Transmission EP with e-bow, brass and atmospheric synths. Addressing the idea of escape, an account of potential adultery, regret and the joy in, as Inky puts it, ‘letting someone in’ he says, “I tend to obsess over the details of what makes people do the things they do. That’s really where it all comes from.”
Under The Power Lines is an e-bow and piano led storm of a song, evocatively describing the moment when, sat in a car near an electricity pylon under a vengeful sky, the protagonist decides to leave their situation in search of sunnier times.
Happy Hour starts with an atmospheric and intimate observation of two people, meeting after work to discuss their respective relationships. The chorus unleashes ferocious guitars and a harrowing brass section melody that perfectly complements the direction the conversation takes.
Your Witness is a full-on rocker with a sixties beat that places the protagonist in court. Pleading his innocence that decisions made whilst ‘not of sound mind’ have led to feelings of longing and regret, the protagonist insists this is punishment enough. Miles apart sonically, there is still a surprisingly humorous undertone to the song, not entirely dissimilar to REM’s ‘It’s The End Of The World As We Know It’.
Fiction is an up-tempo but gentle reflection on those early morning intimacies with your significant other, the simple familiarities that bind people together with unspoken understanding. The brass section returns for the interestingly instrumental choruses, leaving the protagonist to declare ‘I won’t argue with that, if it sounds like this!’ as the song heads to its euphoric conclusion.
“The two full-length albums’ release date had already been decided (Probability and Proximity are scheduled for simultaneous release in August 2010) but I was so excited about these new songs that I just wanted to get them out. It gives people a further idea of what to expect so hopefully the A New Transmission and So Much For Country EPs will have sufficiently whetted their appetite.”
WEBSITE: http//www.Inkysmudge.com
Chaos & Bedlam Management
Management & Booking: lizabuddy@hotmail.co.uk
Phone: +44 (0) 7540 376642
