33

So since our last update we’ve committed to the album title ’33’ for our new recording of our versions of U2 songs. It’s a project to celebrate their music and their impact on us. In their 40th anniversary year. It now feels – to us at least – like a natural progression from Alison Stewart and our involvement in the U240 celebration events. To those who are keener that we get on with our own music we say that we completely understand. We are doing that too and much more will follow but we are following our heart.

So why ’33’? For us it’s pretty simple. It is 33 years from the release of The Unforgettable Fire. This was a defining album for us and we are covering 3 songs from it on the album. Of course we also love, love, love The Joshua Tree but TUF just edges it. It’s all to do with place and time and the introduction to A sort of homecoming.

33 is also a recurring them for U2: from the verse from Jeremiah which is featured on the cover of All that you can’t leave behind to their [perhaps best ever?] lyric in Hold me, thrill me, kiss me, kill me:

‘They want you to be Jesus

They’ll got down on one knee

But they’ll want their money back

If you’re alive at thirty-three.’

and then to Bono’s year of the cross moment when Gavin Friday put a cross in his hotel bed on the Zoo TV tour ‘Hail, Bono, King of the Zoos..’ as referenced in the Bill Flanagan book.

Anyway that’s a long explanation – really it just felt right. And thanks to Graeme our drummer who had the idea.

Since naming the album we’ve been back in Dublin for a photo shoot for album artwork. Partly to get some photos of the great Georgian doorways – no 33 of course. Thanks to Rachel Catherine and Greg Fitzsimons for their help. And thanks to our friends and followers who committed to pre-ordering we were able to commit to vinyl! Can’t wait, a real record. Feels appropriate as we first bought U2 records on vinyl back in the day.

We’re in the studio regularly at the moment finalising the tracks and also a couple of our own songs for release on 20 May: You’re shining brightly now – and ‘1963.’

We have God Part II almost finished, Surrender just needs vocals, Promenade is nearly there too. Some serious work still to to be done on Bad and Wild Horses. Ails wants to redo the vocal on Invisible. And Streets, I Fall Down and A sort of homecoming are really re-releases from the earlier singles. We have still to start work on Ultraviolet.

We had an interesting visitor to the studio a few weeks back and hope to be able to talk about that soon or maybe over the summer.

Rehearsals have started in earnest for our summer shows [grab your tickets here] and we are re-organising ourselves so we can play properly as a 3-piece using a few samples and backing tracks for the first time to mix things up a bit. Grappling with our first use of in-ear monitors too – we’ve been a bit old school and resisted the need for while but we can hold out no longer.

We hope to see many of you over the summer in London and Dublin and maybe even the USA if plans work out (say a prayer for that one!]

Watch out for our video for Haley Grace over the next few weeks. That’s the last one from the I will let you have your say project and will be pretty interesting. We have a video shoot booked for 29 April for the new single.

We are trying to be honest about the journey of being in an independent band as you know and sometimes the reality doesn’t meet how we are – or think we are perceived. The truth is it rakes a lot to put a band on a stage or to put a record out. The highs are amazing. When you play a great show or feel you’ve captured something special in a recording. Or when a stranger becomes a friend through connecting with you through your music. That last one has happened a lot to us and we are forever grateful. Truth is the new friends we’ve made over the journey of the last two years are the real joy in all of this and keep us committed to the goal – of doing our best to do great and interesting work which touches people emotionally the way the great bands did for us.

Take it easy out there. Thanks for your friendship and support.

Love from us.

December