New single released today!

Right, I've been talking about Widows & Orphans for years — it's finally time to let you hear something from it!

Here's a festive little number — though not necessarily cheery! — from the album. It's called "Happy New Year Darling" and features the b-side "Hook & Ladder 8", which was recorded in the same session but won't be appearing on the album.

In August 2017, just before I left for New York, we'd put aside three days for me to play drums on Dave Banks' excellent album Until The End. I managed to do them in two, so with me, Dave and the engineer Chris Corney all having a spare day, we recorded Widows & Orphans in three hours at Chris's studio. My vocal and guitar and Dave's guitar are all completely live (we had practised to be fair). The plan was to release it like that, but then I ended up doing Carousel as a live acoustic album, so I asked Edwin Ireland (who played on You Get So Alone...) to add some cello to pretty it up a bit.

He came back with cello(s), double bass, piano... it absolutely blew me away and transformed the album beyond what I could've imagined.

The full album will be out next year. There will be a special album launch show at the Green Note in London on 24th April, so put that in your diaries. Details to follow!

Anyway, I hope you enjoy the songs! Merry Christmas and a happy New Year!