Paul Smith - 'Break Me Down'

The video for Paul Smith's new single to introduce his new album 'Contradictions' due out later in August. Love it!

Paul Smith 'Coney Island (4th of July)'

Today's important news is that Paul Smith announced his new solo album and released the lead song and here's the video for it:



Paul Smith is, of course, the singer, jumper and wordsmith with Maximo Park. The album is credited to Paul Smith & The Intimations and is called 'Contradictions'. It's released in August and is available to pre-order here. Oops, my finger slipped and I accidentally seem to have pre-ordered the record!

It also looks like he might be touring the album so that's something else to look out for. I missed his tour of 'Margins' (his first solo album) so I will need to try especially hard not to miss this one.

Paul Smith & Peter Brewis - 'Frozen By Sight'

The new collaboration between Paul Smith (Maximo Park) and Peter Brewis (Field Music) is now out, an album called 'Frozen By Sight'. I pre-ordered the album (obv).

Maximo Park were destined to have me as a fan when I heard the energy and life of their first album and a lot of that is down to Paul's voice and lyrics. I've bought every album since and seen them play live lots.  I'd never heard the term 'A4 print-out' in a pop song until I listened to the Maximos. So, my interest in this album is largely around the words and Paul's voice than Peter's chamber inspired music but it's definitely growing.

This album is as far away from the Maximos as you can get and is far closer to Paul's solo album from four years ago, 'Margins'. Some emphatic percussion and sometimes swirling and sometimes strident strings add the background to Paul's words and then come to the fore to take control of the song. It's different but really works well.

The songs are based on Paul's travels around the world with songs like 'LA Street Cleaner', 'Exiting Hyde Park Towers' and 'Barcelona (At Eye Level)'. With some of the songs it's the observed detail in the words that brings the joy. It's almost like moving from the detail in a Burne-Jones painting to the broad brush of a Monet water lilies painting.

This isn't music to listen to on the tube in the morning going to work but will bring many happy hours listening to it in the evening, relaxing, and finding something new in each song with every listen. Thanks lads!

Frozen By Sight - Paul Smith & Peter Brewis

The new record from Paul Smith is available to pre-order and, naturally, that's what I've done. It won't be available until November but, when you pre-order, you can download three tracks: 'Barcelona (At Eye Level)', 'Mount Wellington Rises' and 'Trevone' which all soon good. According to Paul, each song is about a place or a journey he's made with his words set to strings by Peter Brewis from Field Music.

You can pre-oder (and download the songs) from the new website. Here's what the 'Frozen By Sight' website says:


Frozen by Sight is the new album from Paul Smith (Maximo Park) and Peter Brewis (Field Music). Drawing inspiration from disparate musical and poetic sources the two Mercury Prize nominees have come together in a playful departure from their respective bands, with Peter Brewis' chamber-band arrangements built up around text from Paul Smith's travel writing, creating a a restrained yet richly descriptive song suite.

First performed at the inaugural Festival of the North East in spring 2013, Smith and Brewis began work in early 2014 recording the album at the Field Music studio in Sunderland with David Brewis, Peter's brother, acting as co-producer. Integral to the sound of the record are the distinctive performances of the band: David's dynamic push and pull on the drums, John Pope's wandering, melodic bass playing, the precision and drama of Ed Cross' string quartet, and the sonorous palette of Andrew Lowther's tuned percussion. Brewis reinforces the arrangements with smatterings of piano while Smith features as a highly individual singer/guitar player.

Maximo Park - 'Too Much Information'

I don't often blog about individual records but in the case of Maximo Park's new one I must make an exception. On a first listen I am suitably stunned. This is not the album I was expecting or was hoping for. It's so much more. It is not a follow up to 'The National Health', the lads' last album, full of rampant guitar and keyboard and Paul's voice soaring and almost but never quite cracking. I should have guessed from the teaser songs they published in the last month or so. I didn't listen to it streaming over the past week. I was patient and waited for the record to come out.

There are two versions of the album and, obviously, I went for the deluxe version with more songs. The title of the album is, as ever, a line from one of the songs (in this case, 'Midnight On The Hill') and I have no idea what the artwork is meant to be. It's their fifth album (if you discount 'Missing Songs') and ably demonstrates their strength and vitality, a fearless approach to producing new music and experimentation. This isn't a record produced to formula or to please, this is so much more.

So, what is it?

Maximo Park has torn up the 'how to make a Maximo record' rulebook and started afresh. This is a band we're familiar with and there's enough 'old' Maximo to keep us happy but there's more to explore. The lyrics have gone to new heights and complexity with imagery flowing in intriguing directions that will take several listens to get a grasp. The music is far more experimental than on previous records and explores different avenues - there are a couple of indie-guitar driven pop songs but most are a quieter affair.  We even get harmonica on an almost folksy 'I'll Be Here In The Morning' (although it might also be an early demo for a Faces rocker?). We also get a cover of Nick Drake's 'Northern Sky' which sounds so different with Paul's accent.

There is so much in this record that it'll take me a while to unpick it but I know I'm going to enjoy the adventure. There are Paul's trademark literary songs about poets and people and his 'Middlesborough Man' is possibly the most poppy song on the record and 'My Bloody Mind' is almost Stooges-like. They effortlessly move through different styles while being thoroughly original all the way.

I fell in love with Maximo Park again today, with an older band with more experiences to sing about and musical routes to explore. It's a great listen and I look forward to delving into the subtleties of this record and joining them on what will be a really interesting journey going forward. I am most impressed and already loving the songs.

Well done lads!

New Maximo Park Album in 2014

Those scallywags, Maximo Park, have announced their new album today, launched a new video and are giving away one of the tracks for the cost of your email address. They already have mine so I'm happy to give it again to get the download of 'Brain Cells'.

The new record is called 'Too Much Information', includes 11 songs and will be released on 3 February 2014. If you get the deluxe edition you get a bonus CD with a further six songs (naturally, that's the version I'll get). I knew they'd been recording (from Paul's tweets) but didn't realise it was this close to being released. Paul has also tweeted about recording vocals for B-sides so I'm expecting a series of singles from the album. Click on the picture to go to the Maximo's website and details of the pre-order bundles.

'Brain Cells' is the lead song from the album and, especially after the rampant guitars of 'The National Health' isn't what you'd expect at all. Listen to it twice and you'll love it!

Paul Smith - 'A Mind Full Of Nothing But Continue'

Paul Smith has written a choral interpretation of his take on The Great North Run that will be performed tomorrow evening (Saturday 14 September) at The Sage in Gateshead. You can hear a short extract from it below and find out more about the project on the Great North Run Culture site.



The gig at The Sage is free and is sold out.

It's odd hearing Paul's voice without a guitar, keyboard and drums accompanying him but I like the sound. I hope it's released at some point. He could do worse than follow the lead of fellow Geordies, The Unthanks, and do a tour along the lines of their 'Songs From The Shipyards' tour. I'd go.

Maxïmo Park - 'The National Health' in Heaven

Maxïmo Park have returned and are firing on full throttle, with gigs and a new album, 'THe National Health'. I went to see the lads at Heaven in London on Friday night and a good time was had by all, including, from the looks of it, the band up on stage.

Heaven is not one of my favourite venues and it turns into a nightclub later in the evening, so bands need to be off and out in good time. In this case, the Maximos said their goodbyes about 10:05pm after playing for a solid 1:20 minutes, playing loud and bouncy music that made me happy. They opened with 'The National Health' and 'Hips and Lips', both from the new album, 'The National Health' and that got us off to a great start. They've been streaming the album on their website but I've studiously avoided listening since I wanted to hear the album for the first time through proper speakers but they brought a smile to my face immediately - this is the Maxïmo Park I fell in love with.

The set was a good mix of songs from the new album as well as favourites from the last three albums. We were given 'Girls Who Play Guitars', 'Questing, Not Coasting', 'Limmasol', 'By The Monument', 'Graffiti', 'The Kids Are Sick Again', 'Parisian Skies' and a whole lot more. The main set ended with 'Our Velocity' and the encore with 'Apply Some Pressure'.

The lads looked really comfortable up there on that small stage and Paul even managed a jump-kick without kicking the others in the head (which was a feat). I felt so proud of them. The sound was good and the lights were excellent, adding punctuation and emphasis to the songs without taking over the set. Naturally, I forgot my camera but here's a photo I found online taken from about where I was standing to give you an idea.

The new album, 'The National Health' is released tomorrow, Monday 11 June, but was available for download from Amazon today so, of course, I downloaded it. It's a great mix of out and out punky-pop songs and pure pop, happily bouncing along with some killer riffs and lyrical turns. It even has a *slow* song. Yes, I said a slow song - 'Unfamiliar Places' - with the refrain of 'Don't be scared of the life you're living... making decisions on your own'. It's lovely and reminded me that the first album was about growing up and leaving home and this has altogether more adult themes, with more darkness invading our lives as we grow older but with space for joy as well.

It's a great selection of songs with something there for everybody. Give it a listen. The deluxe edition includes an additional disc with acoustic versions of songs and videos so I know what I'll be buying tomorrow.