Following the Moon

Simon Bromide has launched an album of music that shot me over the moon. The album is Following the Moon, and I enjoyed following the story songs that Simon Bromide crafts ever so well. I’m an avid reader of short stories, which Following the Moon has in abundance for my listening pleasure. These three or four-minute narratives showcase situations and puzzles that I could listen to over and over again, which I did.

‘The Waiting Room’ is the lead track from Simon Bromide’s solo album ‘Following The Moon,’ which will be released on November 19 on vinyl and digitally via Scratchy Records with distribution by Cargo Records. There is a bonus in the form of an animated video, cleverly crafted using plasticine figures and model train sets. I found the representations of humans somewhat disconcerting, which could be the intent of Ben Pollard, who created the models, animated them, shot the film and then edited the whole thing. I am sure it was a lot of work, but an excellent animated story is a result, and I applaud Ben Pollard for a job well done.

“The song is about the things that didn’t happen for one reason or another—simple twists of fate or just stepping back from the edge. In particular, the lyrics refer to a letter proposing marriage sent to my mother many years ago. The letter never arrived, and the sender presumed the lack of a reply was his answer. Things were different back then, as it says in the song ‘The Postal Service Saved My Life,'” says Simon Bromide.

I get lost in the music that Simon Bromide wraps around his stories. I often found myself nodding along unconsciously and swinging to the ebbs and flows that move from the opening notes of acoustic folk-rock on The Waiting Room to a mariachi band on The Argument.

As is expected due to the Covid world that we live in, this is essentially a solo album. Simon is a master of acoustic guitar and a damn fine vocalist, and he has surrounded himself with a myriad of talent who contributed to this album. It was recorded at Bark Studios in Walthamstow by Brian O’Shaughnessy (Primal Scream, My Bloody Valentine, Beth Orton), who had worked with Berridge on the last two Bromide albums. The album features drummer Fells Guilherme (Children of The Pope), bassist Ed ‘Cosmo’ Wright, multi-instrumentalists Dave Hale, Dimitri Ntontis and Stephen Elwell, and as folk-pop chanteuse Katy Carr on piano and Terry Edwards (Nick Cave, Tom Waits, P.J.Harvey) on trumpet. Scottish singer Julie Anne McCambridge joins Simon on the closing track; the William Blake penned ‘Earth’s Answer.’

This is insanity. I am listening to this record repeatedly and expecting a bolt of lightning to strike me and provoke my fingers to type out a wise and insightful blog about this outstanding recording. But that hasn’t happened. Since the first paragraph started, I have listened to this album two more times. Two more above and beyond the ten previous times I listened to it. And all I do is sit and get lost in the music and stories. Dang it all, just go and listen to this for your selves. You will get more enjoyment from listening to it than you will get from me typing about it. That’s a guarantee.

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FOR SHARING

‘The Waiting Room’ https://youtu.be/–v_Ge747kk

Spotify https://open.spotify.com/track/39AFkbN6k6GyTLHpUQVsmS

Soundcloud https://soundcloud.com/bromidasaurus/the-waiting-room/s-aiGdCWru09G

Order the single https://smarturl.it/simonbromidenewsingl

12″ Vinyl pre-order https://www.normanrecords.com/records/189757-simon-bromide-following-the-moon

Spotify LP pre-save https://smarturl.it/presavethwaitingrm