The Goo 1
Interview JOHN BRERETON LIVER C LE In 2020 Oliver
Cole released his third solo album Father, Brother, Son to great critical acclaim but it being slap bang in the middle of the pandemic he never got a chance to perform the songs to an audience. Fast forward two years and the time has come as Cole preps for his launch gig showcasing these wonderful songs in Whelans on Saturday July 16th. We called up to Cole HQ in North County Dublin to catch up with the Kells born singer/songwriter, check out his new back garden studio and reacquaint ourselves with his recent body of work. Lovely to sit here in your new studio Ollie, is this where the album was recorded? No, this is very new but it's where the fourth album is being recorded. The bulk of the record was actually demoed in a wee room inside the house but when Robbie Malone (David Gray's bassist) heard the songs he suggested laying down drums and bass in Meadows Studios in Wicklow, with Rian Trench producing. The studio is owned by Rian’s dad, Fiachra Trench, the famous composer/arranger (he scored The Pogues ‘Fairytale of New York' and Phil Lynotts ‘Old Town’ as well as working with Paul McCartney, Elvis Costello and Van Morrison), it’s a great space. The album sounds like it could have been recorded anytime between the early 70’s and now. Was that your aim? Yes, absolutely. I didn't want to make a record that was of the moment, I wanted to make one that felt like it was always there. I mainly listen to artists like Joni Mitchell and Paul Simon, classic singer/songwriters, so I focussed on strong lyrics, good chord progressions and nice strings and ruled out any fashionable studio trickery. Laura Marling's album Song for Our Daughter came out around then and it had that timeless feel so once I decided to take that direction it ruled out a lot. Drums machines - gone, synths - gone, it was quite liberating. The title of the album is wonderfully simple yet frames so much in three words. I had loads of chords and riffs that I didn't have a clue where to go with them but then my brother, who wasn't even a year older than me, died, my son Eliot was born and then my mother died all very close to each other so naturally I started to think about life and death, the circle of life and my place within all of that. The title Father, Brother, Son sprung from that theme and it all just came together. I'm really proud of the record, it's what I’ve been looking for as a songwriter. It's not a sad record at all, the songs appreciate the memory of someone's life, they are quite jubilant in a way and more real than some of the ‘sad’ songs I wrote for the album, which, in retrospect, had a hollow-hearted feeling about them. I never used them in the end. The strings are gorgeous and certainly give the songs a classic feel. I see they were arranged by Fiachra. How did you swing that? I bumped into Fiachra as he was gardening and we got talking about plants, shrubs and general gardening stuff. We connected and a day or two later I cheekily asked him if he would be up for arranging the strings. He said yes and was a gent throughout, it was a bit of a coup to be honest. How are plans for album number four going? This album is definitely harder, I had a thematic framework with Father, Brother, Son but I'm not quite there yet with the new one. Mortality is still lingering in my lyrics though. Oliver Cole launches his album Father, Brother, Son at Whelans on Saturday July 16th. Father, Brother, Son OUT JULY 16TH PAGE 6