January 25, 2026
For those interested, here’s a return to the long(ish) blog, and there’s plenty of news contained within it.
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While 2025 was a year of precisely no new releases, 2026 looks like it could be filled with them. Over the last year, I worked on a couple of pieces with a famous author (as yet, there no plans in place for these), several Plenty re-recordings, a Laughing Stock collaboration (out soon), assorted solo experiments, and a brand new solo album with St Helens’ answer to Eno, Bobian Hulse.
The latter is pretty much complete and is what’s taken up most of my creative time and thought of late. In complete contrast to Powder Dry, the music is tonally, emotionally and lyrically very much of a piece (conceptually so, even). Melancholy ballad terrain is the primary approach, but it also takes some interesting risks and contains a 20 minute closing piece that I feel represents one of the best things I’ve ever done. Also in contrast to Powder Dry, the ‘special guest’ list is fit to busting and the album features some exceptional performances by a number of well-known musicians.
The music emerged at a time when I was seriously questioning how (or whether) I wanted to proceed with anything ever again. From the off, it felt special. This was music created purely for itself and there was something unusually ego-free about the sentiments and performances. Relatively quickly, without any planning or intention, one song became a whole album.
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One of the more unusual of my very recent solo solo songs is a dissonant singer-songwriter piece that was written with the idea of going back to the earliest chords and harmonies I learnt (in the days when the likes of Peter Hammill and Nico were regularly on my turntable). Musically it convincingly captures the dark moods and ragged naïveté of my teenage Always The Stranger recordings, but the execution is hopefully more accomplished. To create an ever-shifting textural backdrop, I reversed and treated a couple of backing tracks of me imitating Phil Minton at his most free. Fun to do if nothing else. In some ways, it was pleasing to know that I could still create something so thoroughly repulsive to almost all human ears.
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Alongside the release of the solo album and a newly recorded Plenty retrospective, I’m hoping that 2026 will see me starting work with Steven Wilson on a new no-man album. As things stand, we’ve decided to put The Album Years on hold, while we concentrate on making music. As I’ve said on the podcast, ‘talking about music is the new music’ and that’s something that doesn’t sit well with me. While TAY is thoroughly enjoyable to make and we’ve been delighted with the response to it, we’re a little unsure as to how valuable it is in the current world of everything, everywhere, all the time. For the same reason I put a stop to my mini album reviews in July.
We have four hours of unreleased TAY recordings from April and I have a few album reviews that I didn’t post. I’m yet to decide whether everything should be issued in one big data dump or if it should remain on ’the hard drive of doom’.
To clarify, the above doesn’t mean TAY is over, it’s just remaining on hold for the moment.
Needless to say, I’m very much looking forward to making a ‘no-man sound’.
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As well as the recordings, it’s likely that there’ll be some gigs this year and it’s looking like the original Butterfly Mind line-up is back together again.
Along with a couple of other artists, we’re hoping to perform a few dates, as part of the Burning Shed 25th anniversary celebrations, in the late Spring / early Summer.
And if the above isn’t enough, I’m also seeing if it’s feasible to do a one-off reunion with the Tim Bowness band from 2004-2006.
Saints alive, lawks a lordy etc…..
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Listening
David Bowie – Blackstar (2016) – My most played album of the last decade.
David Behrman – On The Other Ocean (1978)
Chris Difford – I Didn’t Get Where I Am (2004)
The Divine Comedy – Rainy Sunday Afternoon (2025)
Dr John – Babylon (1969)
Pink Floyd – Wish You Were Here (50th Anniversary Edition) (1975)
Prince – Around The World In A Day (40th Anniversary Edition) (1985)
Horace Silver Quintet – Songs For My Father (1965)
Steven Wilson – The Overview (2025)
Reading
Over the last year I’ve read quite a number of books by vintage ‘crime’ author Jim Thompson. JT subverts genre cliches with often bizarre and vicious inner monologues (he does obsession and insanity well) and, sometimes, he offers wholly unexpected surreal twists. Bleak, dark and compelling, after reading 7 novels in a row, I’m still not bored.
Watching
The Manchurian Candidate (1962)
Pluribus (2025)
Severance (2022- )