Hey everyone,

and welcome back to our new site, entirely redesigned in the vein of our new EP "Songs from Tuesday"!

I'd never have thought the break from recording Fisherman stuff would be this short, but the idea of putting together this EP had developed almost immediately after I wrote all these songs that one afternoon, December 18th 2018, a Tuesday. That was just a month away from the release of our debut album. And now, with everyone confined to their homes due to the Corona virus situation, I decided it was time to just do this and see how it turned out.

These are not songs we're planning to put on the second album that we've also started recording – you can see pictures of that first session on our website already and there's more to come – and they're a sure step away from what "The Hurt & The Humour" sounded like. Starting with the cajón drumkit being replaced by a "real" one, if you will. There are also heavier guitars and more modern keyboards in play here. But don't worry, I've not tried to reinvent the wheel here; all of these songs still sound very much like The Fisherman & The Sea – just, for the lack of a better word – a lot more FRESH. 

If you're wondering about the pricing of this EP; this record is special on so many levels. The price is set so you'll not only be paying for a good old CD (in a really stylish matte finish centre fold digipack) but also directing your money towards us being able to continue with the recording of our second album whilst all other sources of income for indie musicians like us have completely dried up in the current situation. BUT, we're not only offering you a bunch of really cool new songs and some fancy packaging. If you buy a copy of this limited edition – we're only going to release a hundred copies of this! – you will get your own numbered copy (between 001-100) and your name written into our personal Thank You note on the inner sleeve. So if we ever make it big, say, with the next album perhaps..., you'll have a true collector's item that'll easily be worth much more than what you paid for it! Kinda cool, right? But you know what? WE'RE STILL NOT DONE! As a bonus, everyone who orders this CD also receives a customized digital version of closing track "The Burglars Are Back In Town" featuring a special recording by me with your name added to the song lyrics! You'll be getting your own customized song that's just for you. Now if that isn't something to get excited about, I don't know what is. I'm really looking forward to doing this for the first hundred of you!

Now that we've established how this can be a really personal record to you, let me add a few thoughts of my own here and talk a little about each song.
Like I said earlier, I wrote all of these songs in a space of 45 minutes while on a break from work. Obviously I didn't write the full songs within that time, but I had all the chords, melodies and bits of lyrics together. That is the absolute first time this has happened to me in such a short time space. Come to think of it, I'd be hard pressed to remember whether I've ever written five songs in a DAY, let alone 45 minutes.
Anyway, the actual point here really is that when I started recording these songs I realized they told a really strong personal story – they had a common arc – and there wasn't a way that these songs were going to work in any other order on the EP than in the order I wrote them in. The whole EP is a very personal journey from a place of acute depression and frustration towards finding a new purpose within myself to maybe even going a bit overboard in taking part in a society-wide revolution during the last song. And while I initially thought these songs might be too personal to share, I came to realize that I can not be the only one going through these (e)motions while juggling work, life, love and your dreams.
So yeah, releasing this EP is both scary in a positive sense but also the proudest I've been of any of my recordings 'til date.

In closing, let me just briefly glimpse at these songs.

01. Follow Your Love To The Letter
When I sat down to write down the final lyrics for this song, I didn't have to think at all. Quite like the original song itself, the lyrics just happened in that one instant. Don't ask me what it's about; I know what it's about. But I think the lyrics do a better job of explaining the mood than I could ever describe in writing about it. There's one intentional pun in there though, just because no matter how dark I might get, I've yet to lose my sense of humour, I suppose: the line "I'm a forest burning as my streams have run dry" is indeed in reference to music streams of our music drying up and thus royalties doing so as well. They never dried up entirely though; you guys are just way too cool for that. But it's a little fun at my own expense. Couldn't help it.

02. Lost In Spaces
This is what I actually wanted to initially call the EP until I realized the whole story arc thing within this record will be clearer with a title like the one I chose for it in the end. The drums on this are first take! I'm probably going to say this a lot regarding this EP, but a lot of stuff just happened spontaneously, organically and without over-analyzing it too much. Structure wise this is probably the simplest song I've ever written. The vibe on this one is magical. I'm really proud of what the song SOUNDS like, if you know what I mean? And what a cool little chorus, even if I do say so myself...

03. Take Me Back To The Lovely Side
I'm hating a lot on bosses and "the Man" in general it seems. And this, despite the fact that in general all my bosses have been alright at least, some even great. I'm guessing it's just my inner societal anarchist that's just never going to stop hating against "the system" until everyone is treated equally. Or maybe I'm just an asshole who likes revisiting the few times that people have been assholes to me. But yeah, as you can probably tell, this song is about being completely fed up with my work. The lyrics are brutally honest too. Kind of liberating, actually. This song sounds like The National covering The Red Hot Chilli Peppers. Interesting vibe as well.

04. I Like Everything That Gets Me Out Of Bed Today
...or ILETGMOOBT for short, haha! This is me rediscovering my positive resolve and sort of having a little jab at myself for being a whiny little bitch in the previous songs. There are always a whole bunch of people that are worse of than me, there are always a whole bunch of people who are going through the same stuff as I am, and there's always going to be a bunch of people that just seem to perpetually be better off than me. Just deal with it, Jon. Don't lose track of the silver lining. I guess that's pretty much the message of the song, really.

05. The Burglars Are Back In Town
So, this song makes me smile. There's actually a bit of a dark undertone in the lyrics since it actually touches on criminality and the societal divide in our midst getting constantly deeper and deeper. But what makes me smile is the unabashed, almost naive optimism through which everything in this song is portrayed. Yes, we're starting a revolution here, yes we're going to share the wealth so nobody has to live on the street anymore, but most importantly, yes, we're going to do it in a manner in which no-one gets hurt! Only ever really happens in Hollywood, but who's to say we shouldn't try, right? We are all Earthlings. Everything else is just talk.

 

Alright, if you've read this far, you should probably just get this record for free for being a total badass! Hats off to you, we salute you and hope you like these new tunes!

Peace & Love,
Jon