That Joe Payne, former vocalist for British prog group The Enid, joins the podcast to talk about his new solo album ‘Bread and Circuses’, one of the crazy songs on it called “F****** F*****”, and more. ***This interview does contain some explicit language.
Photo by Christian Arnaud
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Showing every facet of his five-octave vocal range, and running a musical gamut ranging from club to classical, ‘Bread & Circuses’ will dazzle the fans who knew him as an award-winning vocalist with The Enid while delighting an entirely new crop of admirers. With lyrics challenging current socio-political topics such as Brexit, the climate crisis, gun law, and the general demise of public morale “This is an album everyone can relate to,” says the singer. “The world seems to be falling apart all around us, and it’s stressful. But sometimes the best we can do is laugh at the things we find ridiculous, and that’s been my objective with this record.”
Having previously suffered a creative dry spell since releasing his debut – By Name. By Nature. – in 2020, the singer had struggled to work out where to go next with his music, feeling ready to loosen long-held ties with his prog rock past. “I went a bit mad in 2020/21, and how much of it was a mental-unraveling that came from releasing my debut, vs having long-covid, I really didn’t know… What I did know, however, is that I no longer cared what anyone thought of me. That’s an incredibly freeing thing, except for the fact that my own self-consciousness was actually the driving force of everything I’d ever done, previously. So, I had nothing feeding my creativity for a while. Luckily, as a way of staying busy, I dipped my toe into Christmas music, triggering an explosion of silly festive songs, and thus began my journey into dark humour as I began to write about what I saw in the world around me.”
Opening with the previously released single Falling in Love is Easy, the album is split into two halves. The first four tracks, though eclectic, have a very contemporary feel, taking the listener back through all eras of the 80s, from synth rock to electro pop. Part two of the album (or side B if this were a vinyl release) takes a more old-fashioned approach, writing music in a style you might have expected to see before the modern idea of pop music (or even chart music) was born.
“I’d say this is my best work; it’s the most ‘me’ I’ve ever had the chance to be! It’s queer, it’s fun, it’s unapologetically explicit. It’s me just making music for the love of making music, and I think that carries across to other people in their enjoyment of it, which is rewarding to see. We only get one life, and we could all die tomorrow, so let’s not waste any time being miserable.”
The musicians featured on this album have all played in the singers full-band line up at some stage, including Oliver Day on guitar (Ms Amy Birks/Beatrix Players), Moray Macdonald on trumpet (ex-Crimson Sky/Ghost Community/Godsticks) and Josh Green (Rolling Thunder) on drums, all of whom performed on the single Live the Dream ahead of a line-up change in 2022. Since then, the rest of the album has been made to feature Esmeralda Edwards (Tom Grennan) on bass, Jake Perrett (Aderyn) on drums, and Joshua Ryan (Chargr) on guitar. The album artwork was created by multi-award winning, internationally renowned Northampton-based photographer and digital artist, Jack Savage.
Track List:
1.Falling in Love is Easy
2.River Run Dry
3.My Heart
4.Plastic Grass
5.Live the Dream
6.Despite Everything
7.Fucking Fucked
8.Bread & Circuses
Order here: https://www.thatjoepayne.com/
