My Inspiration: Central Arcade – I’m No Saint

Newcastle rockers Central Arcade recently dropped their new single, I’m No Saint. The track is a vibrant slice of indie rock ’n’ roll, where jangling guitars and snappy rhythms allow space for a fluid, effortlessly catchy vocal to glide through the mix.

Here, the band delves into the inspirations behind the track…

Musical Inspiration
This song was heavily inspired by The Cure & Cardinals, we wanted to make this song as appealing to as many people as possible, which led us to keeping it upbeat and in a major key, much like songs such as Inbetween Days, Close To Me & Twist and Turn which I was listening to a lot of at the time. This song is one of the most consistent within our set and has been since it was written around a year ago.

Topic Inspiration 
The song was inspired by youth and teenage years. Just a commentary on my life at the time really, discussing relationships I’ve had and everything else I’ve gotten up to. The song shows complete honesty throughout and is a confession, I’m aware no one is perfect but people will try their best to learn from their mistakes although not all of them are bad traits ‘I’m no saint, but at least I’m true.’ In terms of youth, lyrically it discusses hangovers ‘I made myself so sick last night’ and trying your hardest for others despite it not being the most beneficial thing for youself ‘I pulled my eyes out for you, just so you could see’ it’s a song about no regrets, but rather just embracing everything you do and making the most out of it. 

Lyrical Inspiration 
Lyrically, Robert Smith of The Cure really shaped this tune, i sat with the lyrics to ‘Close To Me’ and ‘Push’ out in front of me while i was trying to write them. I’m really fond of Robert Smiths honesty throughout all of his work and how he stands for what he wants to do and doesn’t let other people stop him from doing that, showing real honesty in his work just like what I’m No Saint is about. 

Video Inspiration 
For the promo videos for this tune we wanted to keep it all local and film areas around Newcastle which people who know our work will recognise. Because the song is discussing day to day life we thought filming the areas of where we live made the most sense. Along with a religious aspect of churches and stain glass windows being included to fit with the ‘Saint’ persona the song is built around. We went about Newcastle filming different landmarks, such as Central Arcade, which we named ourselves after and the streets of Newcastle, along with clips from our gigs in the area.

Cover Inspiration 
The cover holds an opposition, along with the music & lyrics of the song which also oppose each other. The cover is of an angel, dressed in white which looks very elegant and peaceful. But what made it work so well is the spear being held as if it’s about to be thrown, we also decided to make it red to help this stand out and create a real negative connotation around it. Showing your actions don’t always reflect your appearance, which is what I was trying to get at with the lyrics ‘I twist and turn in my sleep, when I see you in my dreams’ not everything has a happy ending but that’s okay.