The long-awaited new single from Broken Chanter is also the lead track from the new (second) album ‘Catastrophe Hits’, due out in October, and it is quite something.
Frontman and songwriter David MacGregor’s cohorts on this trip include the supremely talented Audrey Tait, Graeme Smillie, Jill Lorean and Bart Owl – and the record was produced by living legend Paul Savage at Chem19.
So whit’s it like, like?
There’s a slightly electronic intro before Audrey’s thumping drums get the track started – the first verse is a bit rockabilly but soon gives us some lyrical barbs from DM’s slightly (deliberately) mumbled but very Scottish-accented vocals – the keyboard riff continues throughout the track, giving it that extra dimension…
There references to Covid and a certain world-weary vibe, but there are several repeated lines – “Can’t skip the adverts” and “Come and get your T-shirts now” but the chorus is less cynical – “Hold onto your friends” is the main refrain and the instrumentation is full, the voices soaring and heartfelt, recalling perhaps Idlewild in their ‘American English’ phase – no bad comparison.
It’s a development from the previous album, expanding the musical and lyrical palate, if you will, and bodes very well for the album and the promised live shows later in the year.