It’s been a few years now since we first mentioned Songs for Walter, the moniker of Manchester-based Laurie Hulme. In that time he has built quite a following, especially from the likes of Tom Ravenscroft and other BBC 6 Music DJs who have been delivering on some well-deserved spins.
Next month sees the release of An Endless Summer Daze on 28th September via Tallbird Records which will be marked by an album launch on the same day at YES Basement, Manchester. Take a listen to his new single Traitors, proof that, in the interim, he has elevated to an altogether more sumptuous level of storytelling and delivery.
Not all heroes wear capes. As Songs For Walter’s eponymous debut album and its vivid tales inspired by his late grandfather attested, they’re more likely to own a favourite pullover, worn only on special occasions. On new album, An Endless Summer Daze, the family’s grand tradition of storytelling continues and has clearly been passed down the generations, from the most outspoken to unassuming observer alike.
Nom de plume of songwriter Laurie Hulme, Songs For Walter is about to make a hefty impression on those who have followed his sonic trajectory to date. Through an astute voyeurism of friends and strangers he’s encountered along the way, An Endless Summer Daze is a bold and self-aware release that strips back his previously hefty guitar sound in favour of majestic acoustic flourishes. Whilst the debut LP came to fruition in Manchester’s sprawling suburbs, this time around the travel bug returned without warning and he found himself hitching a train to Edinburgh. “By absolute fluke, I ended up staying in an architecturally award-winning modernist house. I set up in the owner’s study and laid down the tracks” he recalls.
An album which holds no barres and flexes artistic license whilst exploring the complexities of life, its lyrics both challenge and entertain, telling tales as tall as they are true. “I’ve never wanted to write about love, it feels so unimaginative,” explains Songs For Walter, of his development as musician and writer. “I like writing about peculiarities in people, personal stories, the bizarre world we’re born into and strange things we do.”
Channelling subtle melodic activism through the anti-folk stylings his songs cover a diverse range of subjects from Orwellian themes to a historical unemployment protest in Salford and the helplessness of workers tied to the 9am-5pm grind. “As a songwriter I develop my songs one bit at a time. The whole process is like doing a jigsaw, slowly finding each piece,” he tells.
With his past singles receiving BBC 6music spins from Laverne, Lamacq, Cocker, Robinson, Maconie, and Ravenscroft – who extended an invitation to play Belfast’s In The Court Of festival – Songs For Walter has found good company in fellow capeless comrades. Further shows have included Festival Number 6 and Indie Tracks, not to mention unforgettable experiences supporting his own heroes, The Wedding Present and Lou Barlow of Dinosaur Jr. “Supporting Lou was incredible and surreal,” he recollects. “He showed me how to play a couple of my favourite Sebadoh songs. One day I hope to ask Bill Callahan how he has bucked the trend and kept on releasing great music.”
Recorded at Manchester’s 80 Hertz studios, An Endless Summer Daze features adapted and manipulated homemade instruments, brought into the mix with Working For A Nuclear Free City’s coveted film and television composer Phil Kay. The album’s nostalgic title-track takes its name from a deleted line, rescued from the cutting room floor (“I can’t remember waking up from an endless summer daze”), whilst talented artist friend Amy Tidmarsh was enlisted to adorn the album sleeve with her pencil line drawings. Depicting an Okapi forest giraffe, a native creature in the Democratic Republic of the Congo, it’s style recalls the famous artwork of Smog’s Julius Caesar and Palace Music’s Viva Last Blues, only adding to the album – and Songs For Walter’s – otherworldly charm.
An Endless Summer Daze is out 28th September via Tallbird Records – album launch on the same day at YES Basement, Manchester.
http://www.songsforwalter.com/