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Charlie Barnes Writes His Will & Testament

Singer-songwriter and Bastille live member Charlie Barnes has shared a new single from his upcoming album, Oceanography with ‘Will & Testament’ featuring backing vocals from Bastille’s Dan Smith. The follow up to 2015’s post-pop monster, More Stately Mansions, Oceanography finds Barnes in a different place in his life. The past two years have seen huge change for the musician, he has spent the majority of his time on the road as a touring member of Bastille, performing on some of the biggest stages in the world and travelling all over the globe as well as getting married and relocating from Leeds to the Midlands.

The new single sees Barnes exploring his poppiest urges with excellent results explaining “Will & Testament’ has been through a lot of different iterations in its lifetime.  The main guitar hook that starts the song is from the very first demo recording I did before the last album was even finished, and I originally built the demo up to be this big, wall of sound moody post rock thing with really nasty sounding guitars in the middle eight.  Funnily enough, it was the former Oceansize member who suggested we take a slightly different approach, so we have Steve to thank for how this song eventually turned out.  It's sorted of ended up sounding like Discoceansize.  Yep.  I went there.” The new single also features vocals from Bastille’s Dan Smith with Barnes adding “He made it all sound much better, so thanks Dan.”

In contrast to his previous LP – largely recorded in one place with producer and Oceansize guitarist Steve Durose – Oceanography is a story of snatched moments after tour rehearsals, late nights spent in far flung studios from Wales to Virginia, ideas sent back and forth over email and put down in fits and starts while on the road. At points it seemed like it would never come together, so it’s some achievement that it not only matches the attention-grabbing maximalist prog pop of More Stately Mansions, but builds and expands on that record’s foundations.

 

Tour dates are listed below:

·       March 7th - Leeds, Oporto (with The Society Pages)

·       March 13th - Glasgow, Bloc

·       March 14th - Leicester, The Cookie (with The Society Pages)

·       March 15th - London, Islington Academy 2

·       March 22nd - Sheffield, West Street Live

 

 

 

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