When reviewing his 2017 retrospective album Rain Dries Your Eyes, Thomas Blake described Jason McNiff as ‘a hidden gem in the British indie-folk scene…quietly and confidently building up a large body of consistently outstanding work.’
His new album, Dust of Yesterday, is set for release on 16th April 2021 and is his first album since leaving London – he is now based in Hastings. The album is described as an elegy on moving away from a beloved place and a lament for lost youth.
Wherever I Choose is the first single from the album. Produced by Roger Askew (Joe Strummer, Christy Moore, Wilko Johnson), the song was written on a roof terrace in Palma, Mallorca and was inspired by hearing some vagrants in the Old Town playing guitars and singing.
“In this song I tried to describe the beauty of simple things, a walk through the ancient city, the freedom to wander…and somewhere along the line it led me to consider God and the existence of Free Will.”
Those words from Thomas Blake concerning consistency ring true still today, this is outstanding.
Jason McNiff on ‘Wherever I Choose’
‘Wherever I Choose’ was written on the roof terrace of a block of flats in the old town of Palma, Mallorca in the Spring of ’18. I’d played a show the night before in the grounds of Joan Miro’s studio, the island’s world-famous artist; a wonderful garden of sculpture with a view of the sea. Palma will often win best-place-in-the-world-to-live contests in the Sunday Times or some such, and you can see why. It’s got it all; great culture, great food (their version of the Portuguese ‘Nata’ – I forget the name of it – is better!) and great weather (i.e. sun). One feels free and alive in Palma. I’m lucky to get to go there from time to time thanks to Tomeu Gomila and his promotions company, ‘Waiting for Waits’. The idea is that while they’re waiting for Tom to show up (which he surely will one day) they’ll get lots of lesser-known musicians from all over the world to play in the town hall, a cool little arts centre, or some unusual place in a hidden part of the city.
On this particular occasion, I was staying at a friend of Tomeu who had lent me his apartment. I wake up at about 11 after the very late night before and stumble out on to the terrace for breakfast – a coffee and a ‘Nata’ (not a Nata, but, you know, similar) – when, guitar in hand (I love playing first thing in the morning), I begin to write a song. It soon gets too hot to sit outside so I go back in and keep working on it in the cool of the apartment. Then I take a shower. I find when writing it’s great to have a shower and think about it there. Something about ions in the water gives you a fresh perspective – I think I read something about that one time, but maybe not. Then I get out and carry on again in the living room. After a while, I go for a walk and see some vagrants playing and singing outside a closed-down bar. They have their own booze and hash and seem to be having a wonderful time. I move on, but can still hear them for some time echoing around the ancient streets. Not much happening. I wander back to the apartment. I have an exquisite sense of direction and (almost) never get lost, but this time I did get a little confused. The streets all look the same. Anyway, I make it back and the song is still there, three quarters written on the friend’s desk, guitar on his sofa. I was relieved he hadn’t come back and seen this disgraceful display. I pack up my stuff, leave the key on the desk together with a thank you note, and slink out of the door. I have a late flight back to London that evening and, back out in the streets, I walk past the closed-down bar but there’s no sign of the singing moon shooters. Well, that’s the story of the day I wrote this song. We recorded it last summer as part of the sessions for my new album, which is coming out in April. For the main instrument, I was looking for something that sounds like the Sardinian pipe you can hear on Fabrizio De Andre’s incredible song, ‘Creuza De Ma’, for that Mediterranean vibe. Actually, the nearest thing I found was an Erhu, which is a Chinese violin. Roger Askew plays some sweet electric guitar and I play my old Vicente Sanchis classical in an open D tuning. Really hope you like it.
Produced and engineered by Roger Askew (Joe Strummer, Wilko Johnson, Christy Moore) the album was recorded throughout the summer and autumn of 2020 in Roger’s home studio in Eastbourne, UK. It features McNiff’s signature acoustic guitar work throughout with significant contributions from Beth Porter (of Eliza Carthy’s band) on cello and Basia Bartz (Dana Immanuel, Rob Corcoran) on violin.
His new single, Wherever I Choose is available to stream now.
Website: https://www.jasonmcniff.com/