James Cramer releases his new single Simple Man on Friday 27th March 2020.
Produced by Norwegian maestro Eirik Molnes Husabo.
Check out this interview where James talks about his life as a songwriter for other Irish artists and the background story to Simple Man.
Stream/Download - https://orcd.co/simpleman
"The Heart of Saint Laurence O'Toole" is the first single to be taken from the album and will be released digitally on Friday 6th March, 2020. Joe calls it "a modern folk ballad based on a true story."
A natural successor to 2017's critically acclaimed "The Easter Vigil" the latest offering from Joe Chester moves from themes of losing inner spiritual and sacred belief to losing faith in each other and the dissolution of a lifelong union and marriage in the broader sense. "Jupiter's Wife" (Juno, Roman goddess of marriage) is a deep and rewarding well, filled with the complexities and conflicts that befall a shipwrecked relationship in a time before divorce was an option. The experience is contentious, doused in the tension between want and need. Joe draws artfully on daring imagery to give extraordinary colour to the impending abyss. The soundscape is equally rich with comforting atmospheric depth and an earthy, natural flavour that is relentlessly strewn with many a gratifying and devast ating turn of phrase.
Self-produced as with all of Joe's solo work, this album was partially recorded in Sun Studio, Memphis on legendary rock 'n' roll producer Sam Phillips' original analogue machines. In fact, the entire record was first committed to tape to achieve a full and natural feel. "When I walked through the doors at 706 Union Avenue, the house engineer, Ples Hampton told me they had spent the previous night wiring in all of Sam Phillips’ original equipment. My heart quickened" says Joe of the musician's mecca. The bulk of the recording took place in Joe's studio set up at his home in the south of France with powerful contributions from Julie Bienvenu (A Lazarus Soul) and members of The Waterboys - Trevor Hutchinson, Anto Thistlethwaite and Steve Wickham.
Referring to the sonic inspiration for the record, Joe says "in 2017, while returning from some concerts with Steve Wickham in Belgium my old acoustic guitar was smashed beyond repair by the airline and so I was forced to begin the hunt for a replacement. After much searching I found, in Brittany, a near 40-year-old and fairly beaten up Lowden acoustic. Designed by George Lowden from Bangor, Northern Ireland, these guitars have a truly unique sound. More importantly, as soon as I picked it up, music flowed from it with ease and I was truly struck by the feeling that this thing was playing itself, almost as though it were possessed. The instrumental tracks on this album are a homage to this wonderful instrument." Joe has had a stellar 2019 with the release of his lost album "She Darks Me" a nd further widespread acclaim as guitarist and producer of "one of the greatest Irish albums of the decade" (Irish Independent) with A Lazarus Soul.
TRACKLIST
Jupiter’s Wife
Staying Together For The Children
My Shipwrecked Mind
The Heart Of Saint Laurence O'Toole
Somewhere Between Oblivion And Bliss
Nothing At The End
Is Cuimhin Liom
A Red Balloon
Synge's Chair
A Siren Song To A Shipwreck
Sweet Bird
Hilton And Michael
Novena
Friday 22th November 2019 sees the long awaited release of one of the albums of the year on high quality vinyl. “The D They Put Between The R & L” has received near universal acclaim from reviewers with The Sunday Times exclaiming “vital and brilliant, this LP sounds like Dublin feels”. It has also been made album of the week by a number of influential radio sources including Dan Hegarty and Tom Dunne. Cillian Murphy gave the band a big shout out playing “Black & Amber” on his prestigious BBC 6 radio slot.
Produced by Joe Chester.
Made in Dublin by Dublin Vinyl.
Included in The Irish Times “Best Irish Albums of The Year So Far”
A Lazarus Soul play a headline show in Whelan’s, Dublin on Wednesday 30th October 2019
Tickets €12 adv / €15 door: http://www.whelanslive.com/index.php/wav-tickets/
Bohemia Records are proud to reveal latest signing A Lazarus Soul.
Brian Brannigan was nicknamed Lazarus by his mother. She was told he wouldn’t survive at birth and when he did, he was diagnosed with a form of Spina Bifida. He pulled through major surgery early in life, only to be diagnosed with cancer in his teens. A mixture of good fortune and surgery saved him again. However, this trauma had a huge effect on a young mind and songwriting became his coping mechanism, his way of figuring out the world. His songs became those of A Lazarus Soul and Brannigan has gone on to build a reputation as one of Ireland’s finest lyrical commentators.
The band’s first three albums, ALSRecord (2001), Graveyard of Burnt Out Cars (2007), Through a Window in the Sunshine Room had revolving cast of musicians from other Irish bands including Ten Speed Racer, Mexican Pets, Future Kings of Spain, Sunbear and Rollerskate Skinny. However, they all heavily featured the music of and were produced / arranged by one of Ireland's finest producers and musicians, Joe Chester.
After becoming a father, Brannigan all but quit playing live until he was asked (at a 2 year old’s birthday party) to play a tribute gig to his hero, Mark E. Smith. He asked Joe, Julie Bienvenu (Lines Drawing Circles) and Anton Hegarty (Future Kings of Spain) to accompany him. With only an hour’s rehearsal, something very special happened in Stoneybatter that night, the line-up of ALS solidified.
Together they released Last of the Analogue Age (2014). It was made album of the week by John Meagher (Newstalk), Alan Jacques (Limerick Live 95) & Dan Hegarty (2FM). It was included in many year end top ten lists including the Irish Independent and Newstalk. It was album of the year for Tom Dunne (Newstalk), Alan Jacques (Limerick 95) & Paul Page (Between The Bars blog / Whipping Boy).
The same year, ALS was invited to play live on RTE Radio 1’s Arena, Other Voices Music Trial and Newstalk’s Pet Sounds end of year broadcast. They were also invited to play the Abbey Theatre, where they stunned a packed theatre with a rendition of The Midday Class.
They were included in Tom Dunne’s Sunday Times 100 Irish albums to Love in 2017.
"The Green and Live album of the year for 2014 is nothing short of a masterpiece. It's our album of the year by a country mile.“ - Alan Jacques, Limerick Live 95fm
"Album of the week" - John Meagher, Newstalk 106
"A career best that firmly cements Brian Brannigan as one of Ireland's most criminally unsung lyrical heroes" - John Walshe, Hot Press 8/10
"So impressed, it has that brooding energy that Whipping Boy achieved on Heartworm" - Dan Hegarty, 2FM
"One listen & I already know it is everything that most modern music is not" - Paul Page, Entertainment.ie
May 2019 sees the release of the band’s fifth album, “The D They Put Between The R & L”, a record of passion, reminiscence and societal discontent.
Brian says of lead single “No Hope Road”…. “I had a great love of reggae music & Bob Marley was my introduction and probably my first musical hero. Every summer in the working class estates of the north side of Dublin (and I’m told the south side too) Marley would blare out of the “2in1’s”, our name for what was a small ghettoblaster, tape deck & radio. I was always fascinated by Marley and would be glued to any documentary on T.V. My brother had a copy of “Legend”and a rather exotic import, the live “Babylon By Bus” which he got from my auntie in London. This song is my attempt to articulate why Dublin people had such a soft spot for Bob. Like any great artist, you don’t get a proper sense of them from a collection of singles. It wasn’t until my teens when I got to hear “Catch A Fire” or “Talkin’ Blues”, that I really knew what Marley was about and my obsession grew.“
Coming 25 Jan 2019, She Darks Me is Joe’s “lost” album by Joe Chester, virtually unheard since it’s original recording. Written during stolen moments in between collaborations in L.A with Gemma Hayes and touring with The Waterboys, this collection is among Joe’s most melodic and liberating work. Fewer overdubs and making courageous use of first takes where possible informed Joe’s renowned signature production style from that point on. A stellar range of musicians participated where opportunities to record could be grabbed, whether on the road with Steve Wickham and Trevor Hutchinson or on Willie Nelson’s tour bus with Mickey Raphael (Harmonica - Bob Dylan, Neil Young, Emmylou Harris). The recordings have been recovered from the archives and given a masterful updated sheen by Joe from his self-built studio near his home in the south of France.
“She Darks Me is elegant, measured and all the better for it. High time the listening public caught up with Joe Chester. She Darks Me has all the makings of a sleeper hit.” - Hot Press Magazine
“Several tracks bear his hallmark attention to observant detail. Musically, it’s Chester’s usual mix of innate melody and carefully prepared arrangements.” - The Irish Times
“In short, this is elegant music. Josh Rouse and the Avalanches would kill for these hooks. A Dylan cover (“Most Of The Time”) almost slips past unnoticed, so strong are the tracks that surround it.” - groovelovesmelody.com
Listen to a radio edit of “Anything In The Long Run” below. Recently added to the RTE Radio 1 playlist.
