Today’s featured track is Diamond Tears. An estranged father, blind drunk, pines for his lost children before picking a fight with his own reflection. This song fades on a lengthy pedal steel solo, like all such laments should. What you hear here is the one and only take. I think it’s miraculous. When I asked BJ Cole for another attempt to give us options in the mix, he looked me straight in the eye and said ‘No, I think you’ve got what you need.’ I admire the man’s confidence.
Today’s preview is The Tame Lions. When I was clearing out some things from my mother’s house, I found a photo of myself aged about seven. I had jumped off a small concrete wall onto the pavement, just at the instant the picture was taken, so I appeared to be hovering in mid air. I remember trying several times to get exactly this effect. I felt such a strong connection with that boy and his desire to fly. I wanted to meet him. I wanted to spend time with him. I wanted to reach out and tell him everything would turn out OK. I suppose it was the first stirrings of my desire to be a parent. When I eventually had my first son, I remembered that feeling and wrote this song about it. It’s about the connection between an adult and his younger self, between a father and his son, and about where the edges blur psychologically. The outro is probably the closest I’ve ever got to the music that, deep down, I’d really like to make. So it’s fitting that it’s the last thing you hear on Great Falls.
Today’s preview from Great Falls is Banknotes. It’s probably the only pop song ever to be inspired by a Germaine Greer article and a Ken Livingstone speech. And I wonder why I don’t get in the charts.
9th May - 91-93 Great Eastern Street, Shoreditch, London, EC2A 3HZ
Rhys Williams
Rhys is a Welsh singer-songwriter based in London. He's released two albums on Vinegar Alley Records, The Fire Stairs and Great Falls. He's recorded at Abbey Road, sung in the Albert Hall and, most thrillingly, was once Morrissey's flautist. His work with Morrissey was described as 'striking' by Radio 4, 'delightful' by Q Magazine and 'horrific' by the NME.