Jeremiah and Josephine * Sweet Sanctuary * Weeping * Naked Man * Wild and Wonderful Summer *For You * Young Gun * Arc of Symmetry * Hardlife Heaven * Kaya Dawn * To Hold So Near * Drift Away * Martha’s Necklace  

This forthcoming album is an organic compilation of passionate songs – some personal, some observational. In these days of so many manufactured pap-pop cover versions, the challenge to restore the art of the original singer-songwriter is too hard to resist.

As the title suggests, each song has a story…

Jeremiah and Josephine:   Written in 1988, in a sense this is where "Backyard Discovery" began ... I was desperate to reflect the horror of the apartheid system through the eyes of real people with day-to-day struggles - and simultaneously I was forging a solo voice and style, significantly different from the eVoid material.

Sweet Sanctuary, Wild and Wonderful Summer, To Hold So Near - the team working on the film "Cockling" had used temp tracks from Van Morrison’s Astral Weeks and wanted to keep that feel, resulting in these three songs. Shorter versions of the last two were used in the film and Alix persuaded me to develop an unused idea into Sweet Sanctuary.

Weeping - a response to the trials of race-relations across the world, reflecting my own mixed-race background and experience of South Africa.

Naked Man - it seems to me that today more than ever men are finding it hard to adjust and establish a re-defined role alongside women and within the family.

For You - written for my first girlfriend and re-kindled when I found my soul mate.

Young Gun - prompted by the issues surrounding the release of Thompson and Venables, the child  killers of toddler Jamie Bulger. 

Arc of Symmetry - inspired by the music of Salif  Keita, master of the power of the simplicity of guitar and voice, this song reflects the sanctity of an intimate relationship.

Hardlife Heaven (or Drunken Angels!) - a song written for the film "Wanted" to replace one by Lucinda Williams when Footprint Films encountered difficulty in  licensing it. Planned for a central point in the film  meant that at the last moment I was asked to compose & produce the replacement,  having just about finished the soundtrack for the rest of the film. A tense few days, but in the end "pushing the envelope" was exhillirating and the version used for the film is a fuller production with gritty vocals provided by T.U.U.P. of Transglobal Underground.

Kaya Dawn - we have a daughter called Kaya Dawn: Kaya after the Bob Marley album and Dawn after Alix’s aunt: the words together fuelled my imagination.

Drift Away - written on a summer holiday spent in a tiny village in the South of France near to a lake, where we passed many a long, hot, happy day.

Martha’s Necklace- in the 80’s the word "necklace" was synonymous with a hideous ring of fire, the sickening public execution of those branded collaborators in apartheid South Africa. Acts of revenge and retribution are often indiscriminate and always appalling: Martha's Necklace carved from stone represents hope for humanity.

Click to download mp3 extracts