This song is taken from the album HOME that’s out today.
It’s recorded about 4 months after I wrote it.
If you want to check out the album (which has 34 tracks on it for just £10) then please click the link here
The Non-Believer
The New Single
THE NON BELIEVER
Released on 1st November 2019
You donned your ceremonial robes today
You had a job on down the way
Some forgiveness here
Some deliverance there
Joy, peace and holiness filled the air
And I just came round to put my deposit down
On a place in the afterlife today
And to prepare to die’s not worth it all
Or we may as well all put our backs against the wall.
You are the non-believer and I have faith
I am the dreamer and my dreams remain
My dreams remain
You wear the clothes
They’ve got those holes
Your followers are many
Such tales you choose
You’ve got the moves and I
I don’t have any
And I hear so well those tales your tell
They all seem so very nice
I’m just feeling that you’ll break my back
As you all go marching on to paradise
Take me to your leader (the one with the opinion)
“‘It’s good to talk’ is the most specious and misleading injunction since ‘All you need is love’.
It has prompted millions of opinionated and empty-headed people to take to the internet and regale the world with their fatuities.
It is not good to talk. Most of the time it’s better to keep quiet … and that includes playwrights.”
ALAN BENNETT
………..and gobby northern musicians?
TAKE ME TO YOUR LEADER
Take me to your leader – the one with the opinion
The one that I saw written down
Take me to your leader – the one with the opinion
The one that I saw written down
And don’t agree when you disagree, because you’re afraid of conflict
And don’t be vocal when you disagree because, you’re afraid of conflict.
And it’s ok to be afraid of conflict
And it’s ok to be afraid
It’s ok
Take me to your leader – the one with the opinion
The one that I saw written down
Take me to your leader – the one with the opinion
The one that I saw written down
For that man is your leader – for he has an opinion
The opinion that I saw written down
Are you sure he is your leader just because he has an opinion
The opinion that was written down
Update on The Certainty of Failure – Two appreciative reviews:
Really pleased to say that The Certainty of Failure has had some great feedback recently…..
Review 1:
It was described as
“a poignant and incredibly resonant message weaved into a mesmeric bed of acoustic organic textures”
by Amelia Vendergast – AnR Factory
The AnR Factory posted their review by Amelia Vandergast on 16th August 2019. You can read the review here.
Review 2
“beautifully orchestrated, deep-alt-folk piece”
and
by the Ark of Music
The Ark of Music published theirs on 22nd August 2019. You can read the review here.
If you like the tune then you can download it for £1.50 from bandcamp here.
Better still you can download it for just £1 direct from this website.
The Certainty of Failure (You are me)
Hope and despair. The enemies of certainty and the friends of confusion. They are useless. It’s the theme of this song and I deal with it incredibly briefly, without detail, conclusion or any real assistance to the listener. You’re welcome. Xx
lyrics
i love the certainty of failure
there’s a taught stretched confusion in this hope
this contradiction with which I regale ya
is an affliction with which I must cope
and i don’t want to exist on a journey
to see travelling as an end in itself
i’ve been too long too long for this burning
i’m so cold i’m ice itself
you are me
there’s a taught stretched confusion in this hope
this contradiction with which I regale ya
is an affliction with which I must cope
and i don’t want to exist on a journey
to see travelling as an end in itself
i’ve been too long too long for this burning
i’m so cold i’m ice itself
you are me
Just announced – Gig at Gullivers – October 11th
I’ll be playing Gulliver’s in Manchester’s Norther Quarter on Friday October 11th. I’m sharing the bill with/supporting Adam Snape, David O’Keefe and Joshua Ben Joesph.
I don’t know Adam’s stuff too well but I’ve just had a listened to his song Dark Times on bandcamp and it sounds really good – acoustic guitar with a (unsurprisingly) dark melody and a really effective descending lead riff which sounds like it might be done on mandolin. Can’t wait to see him live.
David O’Keefe is one of the best guitarists I have ever seen. He combines superb lead and rhythm guitar with well thought out lyrics from the heart. My favourite (and there are many candidates) is a song called ‘they’. Listen to it here at the Acoustic Cafe.
Joshua Ben Joseph is the unsung hero of current Manchester lyricists in my opinion (having said that maybe I have just not been paying enough attention and he is well sung). He has released several albums. I first heard one of his tracks on a show on Fab FM called Acoustic Eclectic hosted by Manchester music guru Wiz Mossley. The song title I’m ashamed to say (although I have searched everywhere for it) I can’t remember but in the alternative just listen to this thing of beauty.
Don’t know how much it will be to get in yet or what time it starts. It’ll be out soon and I’ll put it up here or somewhere.
Review of ‘never forget now’
If you have a moment please check out Amelia Vandergast’s review of Never Forget Now. If you have another moment and £1 you can buy it on bandcamp.
Favourite phrase? Well I’ll go for this I think.
“For an artist to so seamlessly fuse together Gothic Rock and Experimental Folk and still create an immersive, accessible sound is a testament to the ingenuity of Sham Chewali”
Amelia is a Manchester based freelance writer with over 5 years experience in independent journalism; creating book, music and movie reviews alongside commissioned poetry & professional standard SEO content.
Giving it away
Some actual sunshine got me out in the garden this morning with me axe.
30 minutes later I was singing this.
It’s the shortest thing I’ve ever written. Maybe it’ll end up as the intro to something else?
I’d love to hear what you think
Just around the corner.
There’ll be better days
We’ll be sipping on shampoo
And slurping on oysters
You mark my words
And the sun will rise on our smiling faces
Every single day
And the songs that we sing will be full of joy
And the tunes that we choose will be stolen from the birds.
Don’t weep for what you’ve done
But don’t inure yourself to sorrow
Your duties to tomorrow and
We can still respect your past.
But what you are is all you hold
And all you are is holding on
To the simple joy of being alive
And living every day
To the sharing out of all you feel
And finally the giving it away
Goodnight Sweetheart – Live
Of all the songs I’ve written this is the one that evokes the saddest memories for me. There has been more than one occasion where I have been unable to finish a performance of it because It takes me to places which one wouldn’t normally visit through choice. Suffice to say that if mental health provision in this country were better and if people were just a bit nicer to each other generally this song would probably never have existed. I really wish it didn’t.
I don’t reference anyone in the song and I won’t reference anyone now. It’s not really my story to tell. Anyway, such as it is, this is Goodnight Sweetheart performed by myself and Phil Popplewell a few weeks ago at the fantastic arts venue in Marple that is Semitone Studios. It’s also one of the songs that features on the new album which you can pick up here too.
Sham x
Two gigs in one night quite easy really says Sham Chewali
We all marvelled at Phil Collins fortitude when he managed to play two sets in one day on different continents armed only with his talent and a big plane. Well now Phil Pops and Sham Chewali bid to take their place alongside the great drummer/cheeky cockney actor when they attempt a similar feat. For London read Stretford and for Philadelphia read Mossley.
Sham is surprisingly nonchalant about their county trotting musical endeavour.
“We first came up with the idea yesterday” he said the day after they’d come up with it. “There are two cracking acoustic nights every Monday called Acoustic Cafe and Acoustic Eclectic”. Once we’d worked out the timings and the distance and factored in my Ford Fusion 57 plate, it was just a matter of making a couple of phone calls to Terry and Wiz to book us in at both venues.
Obviously we’re taking inspiration from Phil Collins directly. It’s 2 venues, one night, one of us is called Phil so it’s all there really”.
What fans of Phil Collins and underwhelming publicity stunts generally will surely be impressed by is that the indie-folk duo will be appearing in full band mode two days later at another venue in Manchester. Now that’s an achievement which even the great chirpy sticksmith himself could surely never have equalled. We’ve not checked so who knows.
Catch them if you can. If you can keep up with their frantic pace. We recommend a sat-nav and some kind of automotive transport as the best way to do it.
Wiz Mossley from acoustic eclectic, Terry Snowden MBE from The Acoustic Cafe and anyone from the Manchester venue were unavailable for comment. Well they probably would have been if we’d have asked them. They’re all quite busy people.
Latest Breaking News.
Helen, wife of lead singer Sham has cast some doubt on the whole Collinsesque project; “I might want to go to Aldi in the Ford Fusion that night. Sham has suggested an online Asda shop but sometimes their swap out policy disappoints me”.
Fans are advised to keep up to date with their emails and social media accounts in order keep abreast of what is obviously developing into something of a logistical hot musical potato.