New Shapes Of Life Martin Carr SKU: TR389LP Barcode: 4015698012750 20.00 £20.00 Genre: Rock And Pop Label: Tapete Released Date: 27th October 2017 Buying Format: 1LP Includes CD Out of stock Back Order Add to your Wishlist Description Product Info NEW SHAPES OF LIFE is the third album I’ve made under my own name and my second for Tapete Records. My last LP, THE BREAKS, dealt with my feelings of separation from the world around me. The music was simple, guitars, organs, and drums, but somehow it left me feeling even more dissatisfied than when I started writing it. This time I wanted to swim deeper, catch the bigger fish that lurk in the depths, waiting to be found. I had spent much of 2015 in my studio trying to write songs for pop stars, getting nowhere and feeling useless, when David Bowie died. I abandoned my writing and immersed myself in his records, films and biographies. I did nothing else for weeks. The records are great, of course, but what I took from Bowie was the responsibility of the Artist, how important it is to express oneself through a chosen medium. I was wasting my time scrabbling around in the dirt for pennies, making myself more and more miserable. I reflected on how many years I’d wasted chasing smoke and mirrors, living the life of an artist but neglecting the art. I ditched everything else I was working on and decided to write a new album rather than waiting until I had a few songs. I started completely from scratch, writing and recording, often at the same time, in my home studio in Cardiff. I was looking for a sound and a voice to call my own. That was the starting point. The theme was to be myself, to attempt to discover what made me tick, to work out why I behaved the way I did. I wanted to go deeper and find more room in the depths. Lyrics were written first, unusual for me, but because they were the driving force of the songs, they had to be right. I concentrated on what I wanted to say rather than trying find rhymes and scansion. Because these songs were written under a spell it has its own universe, its own language: phrases and symbols and images are repeated throughout, mirrors, reflections, The Van. “New Shapes of Life” was the first song I finished. The opening lines opened everything up for me: Of muted desire And no fit state I know my place Behind the glass Those lines say more than all the songs I’ve written. They are my truth, that’s how I knew I was on to something. I was honest. Possibly for the first time. I stood naked in front of the mirror. There was no sonic template in mind, though I was listening to a lot of soul music – Philly, Northern, Motown – along with the Bowie stuff. I wanted to change the way I sang, I didn’t really want to play anything, Most of the music is stuff I sampled and fucked with and then played it back in on a keyboard. I don’t think I picked up the guitar once. I wrote until I was empty. I worked on ten songs but in the end, only finished eight before the spell was broken. I had been deconstructing the way I’d worked for the better part of two decades but found I’d somehow disassembled myself. I began finding it hard to put the pieces back together. I had pushed and I pushed until my mental wellbeing had begun to suffer. I became paranoid and anxious. I was talking to myself and waving my arms around until I finally broke down and told my family and called the doctor. Something I should have done many years before. I tried going back to it but I could never find the same space. I then spent six months looking for someone to mix it. In the winter of 2017 I recorded a new single, “Gold Lift,” inspired by the photograph of Donald Trump and Nigel Farage taken the day after the U.S. presidential election. I asked Greg Haver, a Cardiff producer and friend now living in New Zealand, to help me with the mix for that. He tidied it up, replaced my electronic drums with his own playing, and then sent it back over for Clint Murphy – a New Zealander now living in the U.K. – to do a proper mix. This worked out so well that I decided to follow the same process for NEW SHAPES OF LIFE. I’m on medication now; it feels like making this record was the end of that part of my life. Now I’m on the other side of the glass where everyone else is. I still don’t fit but I’m fine with that. NEW SHAPES OF LIFE is the first album I’ve made where I can stand by every word I’ve written. It’s the first one that sounds like me and it won’t be the last. Martin Carr, Cardiff, July 2017 Artist Martin Carr Genre Rock And Pop Label Tapete Buying Options 1LP Includes CD Format 1LP , Includes CD Condition New Country United Kingdom Share this On Facebook On Twitter Via Email More from Martin Carr and more from Rock And Pop View Product Quick View Martin Carr The Breaks Rock And Pop | Tapete | 1LP, Includes CD Released 26th September 2014 £19.00 Back Order View Pre/Back Orders Martin Carr The Breaks £19.00 Genre: Rock And Pop Label: Tapete SKU: TR288LP Formats: 1LP, Includes CD Released Date: 26th September 2014 Read More Back Order View Pre/Back Orders View Product Quick View Ed Sheeran Live At The Bedford Rock And Pop | Atlantic | 1LP Released 26th February 2016 £10.00 Back Order View Pre/Back Orders Ed Sheeran Live At The Bedford £10.00 Genre: Rock And Pop Label: Atlantic SKU: 0825646052431 Formats: 1LP Released Date: 26th February 2016 Read More Back Order View Pre/Back Orders View Product Quick View Mark Knopfler Down The Road Wherever Rock And Pop | Virgin Records | 180g, 2LP Released 14th November 2018 £26.00 Back Order View Pre/Back Orders Mark Knopfler Down The Road Wherever £26.00 Genre: Rock And Pop Label: Virgin Records SKU: V3214 Formats: 180g, 2LP Released Date: 14th November 2018 Read More Back Order View Pre/Back Orders View Product Quick View Chris Stamey Lovesick Blues Rock And Pop | Yep Roc | 180g, 2LP, Gatefold Sleeve, Includes CD Released 30th January 2013 £21.00 Back Order View Pre/Back Orders Chris Stamey Lovesick Blues £21.00 Genre: Rock And Pop Label: Yep Roc SKU: YEP2284LP Formats: 180g, 2LP, Gatefold Sleeve, Includes CD Released Date: 30th January 2013 Read More Back Order View Pre/Back Orders View Product Quick View Becky Hill Only Honest On The Weekend Rock And Pop | UMC | 1LP, Coloured Vinyl Released 7th January 2022 £20.00 Select options Reserve View Reservations Becky Hill Only Honest On The Weekend £20.00 Genre: Rock And Pop Label: UMC Formats: 1LP, Coloured Vinyl Released Date: 7th January 2022 Reserve View Reservations Read More Select options View Product Quick View Frank Zappa Waka/Jawaka Rock And Pop | UMR | 1LP Released 16th December 2022 £26.00 Add to basket Reserve View Reservations Frank Zappa Waka/Jawaka £26.00 Genre: Rock And Pop Label: UMR SKU: 4813972A Formats: 1LP Released Date: 16th December 2022 Reserve View Reservations Read More Add to basket View Product Quick View Cold Cave Cherish The Light Years Rock And Pop | Matador | 1LP Released 31st March 2011 £17.00 Back Order View Pre/Back Orders Cold Cave Cherish The Light Years £17.00 Genre: Rock And Pop Label: Matador SKU: OLE9211 Formats: 1LP Released Date: 31st March 2011 Read More Back Order View Pre/Back Orders View Product Quick View Everything But The Girl The Language of Life Rock And Pop | Music On Vinyl | 180g, 1LP Released 8th April 2016 £20.00 Back Order View Pre/Back Orders Everything But The Girl The Language of Life £20.00 Genre: Rock And Pop Label: Music On Vinyl SKU: MOVLP1411 Formats: 180g, 1LP Released Date: 8th April 2016 Read More Back Order View Pre/Back Orders View Product Quick View Divine Comedy, The Regeneration Rock And Pop | Divine Comedy Records | 1LP, Gatefold Sleeve, Includes Download Code Released 9th October 2020 £23.00 Back Order View Pre/Back Orders Divine Comedy, The Regeneration £23.00 Genre: Rock And Pop Label: Divine Comedy Records SKU: DCRL070RLP Formats: 1LP, Gatefold Sleeve, Includes Download Code Released Date: 9th October 2020 Read More Back Order View Pre/Back Orders View Product Quick View Alice Jemima Everything Changes Rock And Pop | Sunday Best | 1LP Released 28th February 2020 £20.00 Back Order View Pre/Back Orders Alice Jemima Everything Changes £20.00 Genre: Rock And Pop Label: Sunday Best SKU: SBESTLP85 Formats: 1LP Released Date: 28th February 2020 Read More Back Order View Pre/Back Orders View Product Quick View King Princess Hold On Baby Rock And Pop | Columbia | 1LP, Coloured Vinyl, Gatefold Sleeve Released 2nd December 2022 £25.00 Back Order View Pre/Back Orders King Princess Hold On Baby £25.00 Genre: Rock And Pop Label: Columbia SKU: 19439996601 Formats: 1LP, Coloured Vinyl, Gatefold Sleeve Released Date: 2nd December 2022 Read More Back Order View Pre/Back Orders See more in Rock And Pop Start again
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