International Departures

• Track Listing

The latest collection of songs by the Hamburg-based band of Welsh singer-songwriter Owen Jones (ex-Jazz Butcher Conspiracy) covers the musical spectrum from country bar-room ballads to snappy, speedy punk-rock - with a touch of reggae and some Celtic-flavoured strings thrown in for good measure... What they all have in common are straight-from-the-heart lyrics and catchy, melodious, hand-crafted music.' With the exceptions of new versions of 'Into The Night' and 'Don't Let Me Keep You' - both of which were first recorded by the original Shakespeare and the Bible band in the mid 90s but never released (although the latter did appear on a limited edition Jazz Butcher CD in 2000) - all the songs have been written since the release of 'Plus Or Minus Zero' in 2009. This gives the album more thematic cohesion than the previous one, which was basically a collection of tracks writtten over a period of 20 years - although the characterisitic variety of musical styles remains as ever... f*** pigeon-holes. Two themes that recur in many of the songs on this album are loss (and how best to cope with it) and motion - the need to keep moving forwards, to resist stagnation.. 'Trust Me, I'm A Barman' is for a dear departed friend - but it's no dirge, rather a celebratory romp with a touch of The Pogues about it. 'To Hazel' is a musical setting of a poem that Owen's dad wrote half a century ago for his mum, who passed away at the end of 2009. 'Drug Dog' and 'Out In The Darkness' are tributes to lost companions of the four-legged variety: Kristina's dog (punk) and Owen's cat (reggae). The opening track, 'Time Ain't Money' is a bit of contemplation triggered off by a brush with cancer a couple of years back; and there's also a reflective tone to the bar-room philosophy of the country ballad 'Play Misty For Me'... you know, the ups and downs of human relationships and all that jazz... The downs, specifically, are addressed in the darkness of 'The Pathologist'. 'Quasimodo And The Ketchup Boys' celebrates the joys of life on the road with this band - and, believe me, they are many, varied, and sometimes rather sordid... There's a song of hate (well, bile and contempt, anyway) in 'If You Were On Fire'... and there's a song of love, pure and simple, to round it all off: 'Sunlight'. There are guest appearances by Alison Jones, of British West Country folk-rockers Spin Two, on violin, and Charlotte Kracht, from the Hamburg wave outfit Sweet Sister Pain, on 'cello. The band's first excursion into reggae is enhanced by a real horn section (no expense spared!); and, in addition, our old amigo Max Eider helps out on backing vocals. The whole project has been a process of bleeding fingers, sleepless nights, the occassional minor nervous breakdown... and a whole lot of fun. The results, as they say, sing for themselves.