In his review of Rain Before Seven…, the latest offering from Penguin Cafe, Billy Rough was especially drawn to the album’s opener: “A particular highlight is the opener, Welcome to London. Inspired by the post-Covid opening of the city, it is a filmic, Morricone-esque ode to the capital. Sweeping strings punctuated by a palpitating percussive rhythm prove an irresistible introduction.”
Welcome to London now has a music video which captures the isolation many feel in such a city; as the video’s executive producer, Robert Raths, says below, “…this video is dedicated to those who feel lost in a place like London and yet make it their home.“
Talking about the track, chief penguin Arthur Jeffes explains; “for this track I started with the piano riff which is a 5/4 pattern moving through developing modulations – all the other elements are picking out points in the piano line and developing them. We ended up going quite John Barry with the arrangements – I love that 60’s feel of the Gretsch picking out a low-mid groove while the bassline syncopates underneath it.”
The music video was directed by Mihai Feflea of the London-based production company Full House Films.
When asked to elaborate on the inspiration behind the video, executive producer Robert Raths added, “this video is dedicated to those who feel lost in a place like London and yet make it their home. As someone who moved here from a different country nearly two decades ago, I couldn’t help but read the title with a healthy portion of sarcasm. I thought our penguin-headed friend would make for the perfect protagonist here. Writing this script also gave me an opportunity to finally visualise Simon Jeffes’ original vision he had of the Penguin Cafe as a magical haven within the concrete jungle when he hallucinated from fish poisoning back in 1972 — something I’ve always wondered why it hadn’t been done before. Because no matter how tough and fast-paced London life can be sometimes, it also contains many pockets of diverse beauty and wonder.”
Pre-Order Rain Before Seven… via Bandcamp: https://penguincafe.bandcamp.com/album/rain-before-seven
Penguin Cafe Live Dates
07.06 London (UK) – Rough Trade East (in-store)
07.09 Brighton (UK) — Resident (in-store)
08.06 Oxfordshire (UK) – Wilderness Festival
11.02 Sunderland (UK) — The Fire Station
11.03 Leeds (UK) — Howard Assembly Room
11.04 Kendal (UK) — Brewery Arts Centre
11.05 Aberdeen (UK) — Music Hall
11.06 Edinburgh (UK) — Queen’s Hall
11.14 London (UK) — Union Chapel
11.16 Bury St. Edmunds (UK) — The Apex
11.17 Brighton (UK) – Brighton Dome
12.02 Bodmin (UK) — St Petroc’s Church
12.03 Bristol (UK) — Beacon