Shock.

I have some incredible news. Are you ready?

Are you sure?

Right.

The album is pretty much finished.

Christ.

There's some tweaking to do and all that, but all the recording and most of the mixing is all sorted, and I'm busy as a beaver finalising everything as we speak. This has taken around 18 months, a lot of work, and a lot of rewrites/re-recordings to complete, but I think I'm actually pleased with this now, would you believe?!

I'd imagine it'll be out around Feb/March ish. I cannot believe this is finally done.

Secrets and Lies

So yeah, apologies for being crypic until it was all sorted and confirmed. Blue Sky Project will support Jubilee on January 23rd at Josephs Well, Leeds. Jubilee is co-fronted by Aaron North from Nine Inch Nails and Michael Shuman from Queens of the Stone Age. This is going to be a right gig, but these are also two of our favourite bands in the world. North is Alex's musical hero. We're going to be a tad nervous.

Tickets are £6 in advance and will be onsale soon.

Meanwhile, someone links me to this: 'legal' highs found to contain methcathinone and methamphetamine analogues. Which made me laugh a little bit. Selling modified Class-A drugs on the herbal highs market is rather sinister...

Been in my studio for the past couple of days putting the finishing touches on the music for the album. It's pretty much just vocal stuff that needs to be tweaked now, and it's sounding much more like a decent album than this time last year when I first announced the delay. In another studio on Wednesday to record the Blue Sky Project single, which should be proper bo selecta.

Leeds is secretive. Secret gig on Wednesday night, secret gig on Thursday night, notsecretanymore gig on Friday night. Go to the Cockpit on Wednesday if you want. The Brudenell on Thursday might be worth a look. On Friday at the same venue, it's Forward Russia, of course. I'll be there, drunk and disorderly.

BSP support gig in January

On the 23rd. I'm not nervous. It's not like they're in Nine Inch Nails and Queens of the Stone Age or anything...

DIE3

Noah Brown, of Baby Food and Yes Boss fame, delivers what has to be the scariest spoken word set ever witnessed, and the moderate crowd in attendance doesn't seem sure whether to collapse in fits of giggles or head promptly for the fire exit. From a list of horrendous insults ('your grandparents hate you, and desperately hope they outlive you!'), to a painfully sarcastic engagement congratulation, to a fondly-recited tale about 'smashing the f*ck' out of a swan, it's highly engaging throughout, and Noah delivers it with enough clarity - and just the right amount of insanity - to keep the room captivated until the end.

Review of Benbow's ridiculous event for Contact Music. One of the most challenging reviews in memory to approach, but I think I've pulled it off with just the right amount of absolute, pure confusion.

Seethrough

So you say you always try to be seethrough... but who can't see you in that cape you wear?
So you say you always shout at the cynics... but what's a cynic if it isn't you?

New single available to stream on Myspace. Enjoy! Particularly pleased with how big this thing sounds. Cheers once again to Hooters for the backing vocals.

Weddings, songs and kids in Q.

So the fuckers actually got married!

Not that we were expecting otherwise. It's just one of those things that you never feel like it's properly real. It's weird - I'm still young, really, but getting to the age where some of my friends are starting to pair off... you know, properly pair off, as in 'going to be together for the rest of our lives' sort of pairing off.

And heck, Collette and I have been together for well over two years now. Christ. If anyone turns into her mother and repeatedly says "it'll be you next..." I will kick your features.

It was a lovely day, of course, and well worth the horrendous journey down (why National Express allowed the coach to break down THREE TIMES before sending a replacement is beyond me; the hour-long traffic jam should have been par for the course, really, as should missing the train by a matter of minutes). The reception was divine, with some of the best Chinese food I've sampled, and Collette's priceless comment in the pub later on of "I wonder what Amy and Adam are doing right now..." will have me giggling like a twat every time I remember it.

(It's worth mentioning the lovely music at the registary office, actually: Amy - accompanied by her father and Collette - came down the aisle to a string band version of Everlong by the Foo Fighters, with pizzicato violins/violas (still can't identify them by sound without comparing directly) playing the guitar part. Very lovely, and a nice 'personal' touch to the event.)

*

Reading Q Mag on the way back led me to take in a particularly interesting piece about children in music. Underage Club and All Ages Concerts were interviewed, as were a couple of teeny bands knocking about the scene at the moment. One thing struck the writer and myself: these are all upper-middle-class, rich-parented, musically-pushed mid- to late- teens that quite clearly were always going to be pretty prolific in terms of music. From the latest addition to the McColls, to various privately-educated, stage-school backgrounded fashion toys - almost all from London's more pleasant areas - there's a slightly unnerving trend going on. The article stopped there, but it got me thinking about how disappointingly clinical it all is, how restricted and restricting, and how many incredibly talented artists must be being overlooked. I started writing music from a very early age, and I'm by no means a musical genius. Many people are. I want to hear them. SEND ME THE CHILDREN.

Seriously, though, it's inspired me to look beyond the Myspace ads that daddy paid for, an actually try to seek out some real young musical talent in Britain. If I find any - and I'm sure I will, with enough searching - I'll be sure to post it here.

*

The album's coming along nicely.