Gentrification has been transforming London and other cities for some years now. The innovative small businesses that once gave an area its uniqueness are pushed aside and priced out of areas with growing rents, the profits from which line the pockets of the already rich Corporations. In their place…bland homogenization.
In the aptly titled Tsunami of Suits, the latest single from Tom Bright (nicknamed Bard of the Underbelly by Sarah in her interview with him here on Folk Radio) he tackles it head-on in his own special way. Tom shared the following:
“When I moved to London in 2013, I started working at The English Restaurant on Old Spitalfield Market. I caught the area just as they started the major gentrification job on it. Before I knew it, there was not only one, but two Pizza Expresses either end of the beautiful Brushfield Street, and it went further downhill from there. My mate Mark had a cracking boozer called ‘The Gun’ (where we used to rehearse upstairs) – that’s now been flattened and is about to be a part of some shopping centre.
Now the place is almost unrecognisable – chain, after chain, after chain. The English Restaurant is about the only bit of originality left.
I started writing the song with all this on my mind. Once I had an acoustic demo down, I played it to Mr. Matt Johnson (The The. He said that ‘kicked aside by their shiny boots’ would be a more powerful lyric than my original ‘swept aside’ – and that was that.”
https://youtu.be/QUXPRFsKn94
Co-produced with Mick Jones (The Clash/BAD/Gorillaz) and Dirty White, ‘Tsunami of Suits’ strips the music back to the bare bones; showcasing Tom’s husky vocal tones and astute lyrics amongst a timeless arrangement of warm acoustic chords and mellow piano hooks.
You can catch Tom Bright performing with a full band on 21st June at Sebright Arms, London.
He’s then off on solo acoustic tours. The first date of European Tour is at Vendel Fest, The Netherlands on 31st August; and the first date of UK tour is on 4th October at The Prince Albert, Stroud.
More details here: http://www.tombright.co.uk/
Buy/Stream Tsunami of Suits: awal.lnk.to/TsunamiofSuits