John Blaylock is a fresh contender in a very modern iteration of a long, strong line of northern songwriters, from Noel Gallagher to Tim Burgess via Mick Head, Badly Drawn Boy and Paul Heaton. Previewed today by the new single ‘Where Did All My Friends Go?’, his debut album ‘Sounds of the Dreadnought’ is set to be released on May 8th. It’s a debut but one that follows John’s myriad adventures in music, from almost breaking big with his first band to writing a song as part of Nelson Mandela’s 90th birthday celebrations and collaborating with artists in Los Angeles, Sweden and Japan.
John excels as a storytelling songwriter, and that’s something he proves with the autobiographical ‘Where Did All My Friends Go?’. Set to a punchy indie/hip-hop beat, John looks at the friendships that in his youth would be forever – but they have all drifted apart from reasons ranging from parenthood to drug addiction to moving abroad. It’s a universal truth that so many men experience as the years pass. Yet as the song observes, it’s not necessarily the end. Whether separated by time, distance or circumstance those friendships can click effortlessly back into place.
John says, “Every single one of those characters and incidents are genuine. It’s about the real friends I grew up with, and is a true reflection of what they’re doing in their lives now. It’s a song that always gets a great reaction at gigs. A lot of people came up to after the shows saying how that song got to them, how they could totally relate to it. I worked very hard on the lyrics – as I do with all my songs.”
Album Tracklist
1. Sounds of The Dreadnought
2 Moonshine and Roses
3 Burns Like Fire
4 Life By The Gram
5. Temples
6. Violets
7. Lighthouse
8 Fuck You For Being Beautiful
9 Bulletproof
10 Where Did All My Friends Go?
11. Feel Your Soul
The single features on ‘Sounds of the Dreadnought’, a record that consists of ten songs of melody and poetry, moonshine and roses, love, lust and reflection. It’s an album distilled from his Manchester upbringing and from his international travels with five of the songs written in his home city and five crafted in far-flung destinations. The album is available to pre-order HERE.
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