"Banana Skin Shoes" out now from Badly Drawn Boy

May 27

May 27 "Banana Skin Shoes" out now from Badly Drawn Boy

Badly Drawn Boy, aka Damon Gough, first exploded onto the Indy music scene 20 years ago with a string of excellent EP and album releases. He returns after a 10 year hiatus with the eagerly awaited new release of “Banana Skin Shoes” which came out on 22 May 2020 on AWAL Records.

‘Banana Skin Shoes’ features fourteen brand new tracks and is a truly personal and heartfelt collection of songs, a huge statement of intent and the most glorious, colourful warming, honest pop record you’ll probably hear all year.

The new album sees Gough pushing forward yet again both musically and lyrically whilst retaining some of his classic trademarks. The bulk of the album’s production was completed at Eve Studios in Stockport last year with producer Gethin Pearson (Kele Okereke, JAWS) who also mixed the whole record. Damon had previously worked on tracks for the album with legendary producer Youth (The Verve, Paul McCartney) at his studio in London, Keir Stewart (ex-Durutti Column) at Inch Studios and Seadna McPhail at Airtight Studios.

Following on from his recent London sell - out show in January at The Roundhouse, the Mercury Music Prize winner will be announcing further live dates over the coming months. Further details to follow on dates/venues, so check back for more.

The first track is Banana Skin Shoes. Straight away, it’s easy to see that the time away has been well spent and Damon’s sound has developed and changed significantly, but glancing back to the 80’s/90’s. It’s got a wonderful funky groove running through it and yet sounds fresh and new.

Next up we have Is This a Dream which will be more familiar to Badly Drawn Boys fans. It’s a up tempo pop political protest song with his trademark lyrical humour, such as “I’m running out of caviar… Had to sell a super car”.

Damon has suffered emotional hardship in recent years with the breakdown of a long term relationship, and that emotional edge comes through in several of the tracks, but most notably in I Just Wanna Wish You Happiness which sees him dig deep and handle the trauma of a break-up and turn it into a song of salutation to his ex. A beautiful and moving track.

And this wonderful playful humour runs through the record for example in Tony Wilson Said about the larger than life Manchester club owner and boss of Factory Records Tony Wilson, “Shout Out to The City. Like Tony Wilson Said. Wrong Number Chicago and New York. Dial Manchester Instead.” A wonderful upbeat track to dance to, delivered in a motown-like soul stomping fashion.

You and Me Against the World slows the tempo down and has a wonderful ‘lounge’ feel to it with organ and maracas but with a wonderful soft vocal track overlayed. The title is self-explanatory and the lyrics deliver so well and are beautifully descriptive: “all the love you lost could last for ever like memories, and the moon in lost and looking lonely, and far away… I want to know how you feel”.

The album offers a wonderful mix of styles that are blended together so well. For example on Note to Self there is a wonderful gentle picked guitar underpinned with an almost Latin tone running through it.

Then there’s the retro-futurist pop on Fly On The Wall, which has an Eighties pop-soul feel, such as Hall and Oates.

Later in the album listing we have Never Change a piano ballad with a delightful bassline underpinning it, pulling everything together, with soft warm strings, with some more wonderful lyrical lines such as “if you never lived, you’ll never die” and “I’d like to look inside you head and see what you’re thinking”.

Finally, we come to the immaculately tailored closing track I’ll Do My Best a nod to his failings, a prayer to his partner and a lyrical tip of the hat to his hero Bruce Springsteen; this is the sound of a songwriter skipping between musical idioms and emotional extremes with a cool, calm confidence.

There’s a lot to enjoy here and it deserves a solid score from LiveWire Music of 8.5 I just hope the next album isn’t 10 years away !

Tracklist:

1. Banana Skin Shoes

2. Is This A Dream?

3. I'm Not Sure What It Is

4. I Just Wanna Wish You Happiness

5. Tony Wilson Said

6. You And Me Against The World

7. I Need Someone To Trust

8. Note To Self

9. Colours

10. Funny Time Of Year