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The Yarm/Billingham trio try to encapsulate the sound of their new album (out 22nd Oct) in three songs
Yarm/Billingham trio, The Inklings release their fifth album, The Tunnel at the End of the Light, on Saturday 22nd October. All the songs are self-written, performed and produced by The Inklings, with a closing drum tattoo on the final song, Stop, performed by longtime Inklings friend Tracey Sneddon two weeks before she passed away from cancer. The artwork for the album was painted by Teesside artist and photographer Mark Cartwright
Here, the band, who will be holding a launch party at NE Volume Bar, Stockton on Saturday 22nd October and support The Skids at The Georgian Theatre Stockton on Friday 11th November, try to encapsulate the sound of their album in three songs…
Nick Cave – O’Malley’s Bar
Sometimes songs are really about storytelling and Nick Cave’s O’Malleys Bar tells such a dark tale it is almost too painful to listen to whilst being poignantly beautiful. Nothing is sugar-coated. The delivery is magnificently manic even with some dark humour thrown in.
Although the music is secondary it compliments this dark, raw ode beautifully. The end also leaves you with a compelling sense of ambiguity, did he die or didn’t he… who knows? But it is an uncomfortable feeling The Inklings try to recreate.
The Stranglers – Walk On By
The original Bacharach/David composition by Dionne Warwick is a beautiful heartbreaking lament which surely could not be topped, could it? Maybe, maybe not. The painful sadness of the original is replaced by a vitriolic rage which Hugh Cornwell captures magnificently. Coupled with an incredible musical passage that seems to navigate somewhere between pub-rock and prog-rock. Musical and angry are always an inspiration for the Inklings.
The Police – Message In A Bottle
With a multi-layered percussion and lots of space coupled onto a catchy tune and killer riff, Message in a Bottle has power and fluidity, something the Inklings definitely aspire to bring into the Tunnel at the End of the Light. Having the bass and drums locked into such a powerful reggae-tinged landscape and coming from a three-piece band is very inspirational. No fat on this song, every note and beat matters.
