It wouldn’t be one of my records unless there was an excursion into mythology and this time (coincidentally, given the recent blockbuster movie, and also coincidentally because it’s literally an excursion) it’s the Odyssey, and a song originally entitled “Tales of Brave Penelope,” though I whittled it down to the single name. I don’t have many songs with women’s names, but there’s Lydia, Jane, Cathy and now Penelope. (Choice of names tells you a lot about a songwriter.)

Odysseus has a belated moment of enlightenment: why did he bother with all the heroism and fighting and traveling and voodoo and trials when he could have just stayed home? Maybe the hero is the problem. I shouldn’t think that’s central to the theme of Christopher Nolan’s movie but I haven’t seen it yet. (Update: I now have. I enjoyed it. And that theme is, if not control, then germane.) I recently saw a fantastic playlist of songs inspired by the Odyssey - "Home at Last” by Steely Dan, “Calypso” by Suzanne Vega, “Tales of Brave Ulysses” (my source for my original title) by Cream etc - and, on the day of release of the new album, that playlist can now be one song longer.

The production here references Gerry Rafferty, a songwriter I love - I have literally just this afternoon had a pint at the Scotia Bar in Glasgow where Rafferty played many gigs with Billy Connolly in The Humblebums: well, it’s why I was drinking there - and so - appropriately - there's some stellar sax by Stuart Bogie. Ned Doheny is also in the brew - he appeared on a Cabinet of Wonders and David Nagler, my collaborator, and I were both hugely into singing harmonies with him on “When Love Hangs in the Balance". There’s also, some very beautiful lead guitar, particularly in the outro, by Justin Mazer. It’s the one track he plays on actually, but we’ll rectify that on the next record. This is also the only track that features the entire English UK; David, Eddie Carlson (bass) and Philly’s own Patrick Berkery (drums). We recorded it all in Studio 1935 in the BOK building in Philadelphia. We wanted to spread out, get the tracks live, and allow for some improvisation: a player’s record - that was the phrase going in.

Photo & design Morgan Narkiewicz