HOT ON the heels of the release of his fifth studio album, It’s Only A Love Song, last week, C Duncan is returning to Reading as part of his latest tour.
After performing at Are You Listening Festival back in May, will be joined by The Pawnbrokers for a show at South Street Arts Centre on Thursday, January 30.
Chris says his latest work is: “A very romantic album–I’ve always watched being something unashamedly romantic, that some might find twee.
“I wanted to do something that was more of a collection of songs, thematically similar, whereas previous albums have been very much drawn from whatever headspace I was in at the time, I’ll write in that headspace, and putting the album together afterwards.
“This one was more of a whole.”
The album was recorded at home, he explains: “It just gives me time to think about what I’m doing; no pressure from studios opening or closing, financial pressures, or any of that
That’s the way I like to work, and I just did everything myself, with the exception of the strings, which my parents recorded.”
Chris was born and raised in Glasgow by his parents, who are both classical musicians.
“I thought I might as well utilize them– with my last record, I performed string parts myself, but I’m nowhere near as good as good as they are.
“So I thought I’d write more ambitious string parts and ask them to play them.”
This year marks the tenth since the release of his Mercury Prize-nominated debut album, Architect.
“I think I may be quite stubborn,” he says of his longevity.
“You do stop and think ‘what on Earth am doing, where’s the stability here?
“But I’m completely obsessed with music– for me it’s the most expressive form of art.
“You do have the lyrics, which obviously the brain can connect with, but the music itself is such such an abstract thing that makes you happy or sad– it’s just a weird connection that people have with it.
“I can’t see myself doing anything else.”
Chris is performing at South Street as part of a run of shows marking Independent Venue Week, which champions indie performance spaces around the country.
“I love doing solo shows; you get a chance to chat with the audience and it’s so much more relaxed on stage.
“You get to be at the helm of it, not only with the performance, but with the style and the tone– it has an intimate feel to it.
“It’s usually very chilled and a lot of fun.”
C Duncan is performing at South Street Arts Centre from 7.30pm on Thursday, January 30.
Full details and tickets available via: whatsonreading.com
