Songbook

The Vicar Songbook #1. Fourteen songs written by David Singleton and produced by The Vicar himself with his unique take on string and chamber pop.

The tracks feature some of the world’s outstanding musicians – for which our everlasting thanks – while The Vicar throws the vocal microphone to emerging singers spotted at small venues or on the internet and lesser-known cult favourites, continuing his lifelong passion for unearthing new or undervalued talent,
The songs go everywhere pop songs should – Gay bars in New York (Man with a Woman), Adolescence (Twenty Two), Moonstruck love (The Moony Song), Vanity (That Boy’s Not Cool), Nostalgia (Childhood Days) – and a few places they probably shouldn’t – a world without belief (San Manuel. Lonely Sunday), a mother coping with the death of a child (Count Your Blessings), and the simply surreal (Inside my Head).

The Songbook

“Highly engaging psychedelic chamber-pop… expertly arranged profusion of string melodies” – Financial Times ****

“Definitive pop arrangements with the harmonic and melodic genius of George Martin and Phil Spector. An incredible acoustic light orchestra” – Rockerilla Album of the Month

“The Vicar recalls the elegance of the Penguin Café Orchestra in a work that could not be more English. Sometimes melancholy and dreamy, sometimes fast and light, but always substantial. Delicious” – Jam magazine****

“Anybody who remembers Colin Blunstone would have an idea of how the secretive Brit known as The Vicar interprets Pop and Rock…An exquisite collection of songs in the Scott Walker tradition” - DFB Musica

“The future of High Definition Music” – Dolby Laboratories

And the thoughts of The Vicar himself:

“If we embrace the unexpected. If we are free not to be slaves to the rhythm. If we have the courage to believe that dreams can and will come true, our ears transform humble songs into music beyond our wildest imaginings. 

This album, so long in the making, contains a slice of my soul. It is thus tempting to suggest you tread gently. But far better you stomp wildly and enjoy. “

Featuring : Cathy Stevens (Penguin Cafe Orchestra, Everything but the Girl), Tony Levin (King Crimson), Theo Travis (Gong, Soft Machine Legacy, Steven Wilson Band), Steve Sidwell (Robbie Williams, George Michael), Chas Dickie (Van der Graaf Generator, PJ Harvey), Karen Wimhurst (Zaum, English National Opera), Nigel Barr (Michael Nyman Band), Horacio Pozzo (Argentine BigTime Guitar Trio), Steve Porter ,(steveporter.org), Paul Ibberson  (paulibberson.com), Mutch Katsonga  (darkjam.com/Mutch Katsonga), Tim Elsenburg (Mercury Prize nominee, Sweet Billy Pilgrim), Andy Yorke (The Unbelievable Truth), David Scott (Pearlfishers) & Lewis Taylor.

Just For You
ARTICLES

SONGBOOK #1

So what do you get? Nothing less than fourteen songs featuri...

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SONGBOOK #1 The Girl With The Sunshine

The early draft was called "The Per Diem Girl": a song about...

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SONGBOOK #1 Childhood Days

If The Vicar has done his job even half well (and we'd like...

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SONGBOOK #1 That Boy's Not Cool

"Hmmm! What would happen if we took the joy and mayhem of ca...

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SONGBOOK #1 The Moony Song

You may have noticed that most of these songs don't have pro...

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SONGBOOK #1 Twenty Two

A song about that pivotal age of twenty two - when you sudde...

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SONGBOOK #1 Three Sides of Me

A song about that most confusing of things, even for those o...

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SONGBOOK #1 Man with a Woman

A song about an encounter in gay bar - an imaginary story (w...

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SONGBOOK #1 Forever

It's always dangerous to say what a song is about, as Art is...

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SONGBOOK #1 San Manuel

A song about pretence and loss of faith, if that doesn't sou...

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SONGBOOK #1 She Closes Her Eyes

One of the most challenging songs to record - partly because...

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SONGBOOK #1 In Dying Fire

For many years the viola player, Cathy Stevens, lived in the...

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SONGBOOK #1 Count your Blessings

Like most of the songs in this collection, this is based on...

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SONGBOOK #1 Inside my head

Exactly how much music can you squeeze into one three minute...

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SONGBOOK #1 Lonely Sunday

The opening two lines of this song were written by David Ads...

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DIARIES
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The Girl With The Sunshine In Her Eyes

The Vicar
Broadchalke
8 Feb 2007

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