We Speak Music

Will Bates Delivers Masterful Album ‘The Pirate Album’

Published

9 months ago

July 30, 2024

With the release of his album, The Pirate Album, Will Bates—who is well-known for his vast body of work in cinema and television composition—has entered uncharted musical ground. Sketches from a forgotten project and a fifteen-foot balafon were the strange starting points for this project. First envisioned as a budding film score, the partnership with friend and drummer Mathias Kunzli took an unexpected turn when the renowned composer turned it into a significant release.

After the movie idea was abandoned, Bates repurposed balafon drawings to create The Pirate Album. He assembled a talented group of musicians, including drummer Spencer Cohen and jazz musician Quentin Collins, who helped transform the original doodles into complete tunes. Their input helped Bates create a unique and original musical experience.

Sonically, the Pirate Album is influenced by a wide range of genres and is thought to fall between Talking Heads and Eden Ahbez. But the album’s route wasn’t a straight line. Bates balanced his composing commissions over a period of eighteen months with sporadic record revivals. A breakthrough occurred when Bates’s own production firm, Fall On Your Sword, music supervisor Lucy Alper, was able to obtain a sync for one of the tunes. This encouraged Bates to finish the record.

In conclusion, the album is a creative collaboration by Bates, that showcases his creative spirit and rejection-response relationship. The album features nine diverse and sonically striking tracks, showcasing Bates’ status as an important artist in the music scene. The unique sound design and atmosphere make it a sensational listen, regardless of the setting.

We Speak Music

Happy Mondays Co-Founder Gaz Whelan releases new Yogi-G and the Family Tree track ‘Shine On (Brother)’

Published

8 minutes ago

May 9, 2025

Don Reed

As near to a new Happy Mondays record ever likely to happen, prepare for ‘Show Me The Truth’ by Yogi-G and The Family Tree.

First up, new single ‘Shine On (Brother)’ ft. Queen Vee & Chris Barton

Yogi-G and The Family Tree have unveiled their powerful new single Shine On (Brother), featuring Queen Vee and Chris Barton which has dropped ahead of the band’s eagerly awaited album Show Me The Truth out May 23^rd. Led by Gaz Whelan—co-founder, Ivor Novello winning songwriter and drummer of the legendary Happy Mondays—this project blends his iconic Madchester groove with fresh, infectious energy, delivering music that’s both raw and transcendent, and also features the irrepressible vocals of Rowetta making the sounds of 1990 come alive again in glorious fashion.

Gaz’s influences mainly stem from John Lydon, Leonard Cohen and Bob Dylan. A more cerebral character than bandmates Shaun, Bez and co. but still a major proponent of that larger-than-life Mancunian braggadocious swagger that have paved the way for a whole subculture of British indie pop bands like The Stone Roses, Oasis, Arctic Monkeys, The Charlatans, Primal Scream, Badly Drawn Boy et al.

With a working title of ‘A Record Collection in One Album’, the newly titled and as yet unreleased album Show Me The Truth is a genre-free zone, a collision of moods and styles that dovetails Whelan’s ragged, dark lyrical musings with soulful vocals and African rhythms.

It’s the aural equivalent of lying in a warm bath in the middle of a snowstorm—where spaghetti western strings stretch from heaven, rubbing up against filthy electric guitars and punk gospel rhythm and rhyme. A hidden optimism weaves through its DNA, offering soul salvation for the cynical, a safe haven from an ever-insane world.

As Gaz explains, “Yogi-G and The Family Tree are not hippies, we give a fuller human experience that is more devolved from the punk experience, where you never quite know if you’re going to get a hug or a headbutt. Life is filled with peace and love but equally excitement and pain.”

Started in Toronto and finished in Warrington, the album was born out of frustration and creative restlessness, as Gaz further explains, “I got fed up waiting around to try to agree to write a new Mondays album. When it became apparent, we couldn’t agree, I decided to do my own. I think it’s bloody great and the support has been outstanding and for all the good ones we’ve lost along the way like Gil Scott Heron, Tony Wilson and more recently my bandmate Paul Ryder, this is for them and for all those who just love to get off on good music.”

Yogi-G and The Family Tree’s new single ‘Shine On (Brother)’ is out now ahead of the band’s debut album ‘Show Me The Truth’ on May 23^rd.

The band will play Wax & Beans in Bury on 17^th May.