Brit Albion
Brit’s debut album, Shakespeare Day Observed, was over two years in the making and originally intended for an April 2010 release. But Brit made constant changes to the recordings, mixes, arrangements and track order, adding or removing songs as recently as a month or so ago to find the best set of tunes he currently has available at this time. Some songs stretch back more than a decade, reworked from previous musical outfits, while others were easy one offs that only took a night to put down. The unintended theme here is love in its various guises and moods and, while he’s never mentioned in here song, Brit always felt like Shakespeare summed that sentiment up best. Here’s Brit’s stab it as well.
- Inside/Outside
- Indeed He Does
- Australia
- Falling Among Thieves
- The Man Who Came with the Dark
- I Have Chosen You to Break My Heart
- Trading Places
- Heartbreak is a Gun
- All I Wanted
- Love on the Run
With a bit of free time on his hands, Brit wrote and recorded this three song single in the space of about three or four hours. He admits this may reflect in the final product, but enjoyed the spontaneity of the sessions and wanted to share the outcome with you as a special XXXmas bonus and finale of his 2009 singles project.
December 2009 (All I Want for Christmas is You)
The title for December's single is explanation enough. It's just a sweet and simple love song with a bow on top for good measure. While the deconstructed take on Jingle Bells may scratch a few heads, the SNL skit favorite closing out this festive session is sure to bring a smile.
All I Want for Christmas is You
November's single, Polly's Chalk, is a murky little number full of dissonant noises and cryptic lyrics. If there's a hanging to be had, this could be the soundtrack. A reworking of a Rides on Trains favorite and a late Joy Division/early New Order classic make this an overall ominous affair.
Polly's Chalk
October 2009 (I Advance Masked)
It’s Brit Albion's favorite month/holiday and to celebrate he’s not only written an appropriately themed title track, I Advance Masked, for October’s single, but pulled an obscure Sparrowfall track about a wife encountering the ghost of her war-dead husband and of course…and song by the Misfits. In fact, as a Halloween gift he’s recorded an additional all-Misfits covers e.p., Wish I was a Misfit, and somewhere on the page there’s yet another hidden bonus track. It’s spooky fun…though maybe not for the entire family.
I Advance Masked
Bonus Halloween E.P.
September 2009 (A Love Supreme)
September’s single is more inspiration from muted Disney teen TV, though the Coletrane reference adds a bit more credibility to that questionable admission. And the tune itself is a fun, bouncy track sure to get your Smiths-fix satisfied. The tracks are rounded out by Brit’s take on a Flurries number from 2007 and a Tim Hardin staple that you’re all bound to enjoy.
This month’s single is a mellow affair about a man done wrong along the Florida panhandle. Brit claims it’s purely fiction since he doesn’t remember squat about 1975, but there’s no proof either way that this didn’t happen. The covers are an obscure, latter day tune by Everything’s Gone Green, and if you don’t know who originally sang the other, then I’m sorry.
The first single in Brit Albion’s new project is Pearl, which is a Biblical reference as you’ll learn from the song. Yet another relationship song (of which he is so infamous for), the inspiration came from strumming chords on the guitar while watching an episode of Everybody Loves Raymond on mute. The two b-sides are covers (which will be the pattern for this project), Rebecca, an old Heroes and Villains (alumni of Tally Ho) favorite and The Sun and the Rainfall from Depeche Mode’s second album all the way back in 1982.