“It was
because it never originally came out on vinyl,” he says of the reissue, which
is out today on his own label, Kundalini Records.
Unhappy with
the original mix, the Ocean Colour Scene guitarist, who is also a key member of
Paul Weller’s band as well as performing with The Specials, spent part of last
year tweaking it.
“I found all
of the old masters and spent the best part of a month making it sound like I
imagined it,” says the 51-year-old. “I took out all of the interludes and I
just thought I’d concentrate on the songs and it seemed to make more of a
collective album.”
Back in
December 2010, Cradock had visualised “trying to make an underground, garagey
type of record” at “beautiful farm” on the southern tip of Devon. “It was like
living on the Moon while I was there,” he says. “I spent a month doing it.
James Buckley (from cult TV show The Inbetweeners) came down with his
girlfriend and stayed for a couple of weeks, and my kids were there all the
time.”
The song Last
Days of the World had been left over from sessions for Cradock’s previous
album, The Kundalini Target. Its lyrics about the rise of technology and social
media seem prophetic. “I wrote the chorus for that and Andy Crofts wrote the
first words, so I have to thank him for that,” he says. “I guess it does still
ring very true, that song.”
Many of the
other songs were co-written with Crofts while they were “out on the road” with Weller.
Cradock remembers: “We’d spend a lot of time in changing rooms just picking
away at it and demoing it as we were on tour with Paul.”
The lyrics
for Lay Down Your Weary Burden come from a poem penned by Weller. “I really
liked it as a poem,” Cradock says. “He gave me a few, actually, just to see if
I could do anything with them.”
Peace City
West has a 6os feel, with its mixture of psychedelia, pop and folk steeped in
melody – some of the touchstones of Cradock’s musical taste. “I love new and
old, I love all music,” he says. “If you’ve got an old-fashioned kind of song I
guess unless it’s got rapping over it’s going to have a tinge that reminds you
of something form a time gone by.”
Cradock has
also been producing tracks for Weller’s eldest daughter, Leah. Her first
single, Strangers, was released at the tail-end of last year. He says they are
“not far away from completing” a full album. “It may need a couple of tunes,
but the main part of it is done, it’s in a good state. At the moment she’s
talking to record labels.”
He’s been
setting up a new studio at home, and there is another solo album on its way
too. “I’ve also recorded an instrumental album that’s going to be released on
vinyl this year sometime,” he says. “I had a few bits of music and it seemed
like it was for an imaginary movie. It’s quite meditative, for example the
first track on the second side is five minutes of me playing gongs. Especially
the second side is me playing simple melodies and repetition melodies, piano
pieces and it seems cohesive as an album.”
Cradock also
continues to be involved with The Specials. He reveals Lynval Golding asked him
to work on an acoustic track. Additionally, he says: “There are lots of ideas
floating around that sound very exciting but I haven’t really played on
anything yet.”
The Specials
have a tour pencilled in for September, while Paul Weller is due back on the
road in November. Cradock says he’s missed playing live. “It’s not only us,
it’s all the technicians and all the crews, it’s been a really bleak time for a
lot of people,” he says. Of course I’m hoping things will be better later in
the year.”
Peace City West is out today. www.stevecradock.com
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