THE SINGLE PRECEDES THE IMMINENT ARRIVAL OF BAND’S SECOND ALBUM
A Permanent Shadow have been heralding the release of their second long play with a series of singles since September 2021. After “Shining Star”, “Beautiful People” and “This Energy”, on February 25th “Speedtrain” saw the light of day as the final taster for the album “Humdrum”, which will be released on March 4th.
The single version is slightly shorter than the full album version and will be made available digitally. The song comes with a video, as always directed by Dani Moreno. In the clip we can see A Permanent Shadow singer CP Fletcher running along the rails with the train fast approaching, while the real-life lawyer Marta Guillemí acts as the one-eyed statue of justice come to life.
“Speedtrain” is a song about aging and lost opportunities which laments the passing of time and the inability to let go of the past. “As you get older, you seem to cling to the past much more, because there’s less future left and you realize how finite your existence actually is”, comments Fletcher on the song’s lyrics. “It is common for parents or grandparents to warn you that the older you get the faster time passes, which in your youthful arrogance you brush off lightheartedly. But as the years pass, you suddenly find that indeed, life is rolling like a speedtrain with no mercy, as the song’s chorus implies. And that’s when you start looking back on everything you have and have not done in life, and you ask yourself how much do you have left to make up for lost time.”
Despite the bleak lyrical content, musically “Speedtrain” is an upbeat song. Driven by a simple bass riff and an underbelly of synth arpeggios, the track, as the rest of the imminent album “Humdrum”, was recorded by CP Fletcher and his two collaborators Albert Català (keyboards, arrangements) and Valentí Nieto (guitars, bass, production) at Barcelona’s Mini Blind Studios. It is already the eighth single in the cannon of A Permanent Shadow whose debut album “Songs of Loss” was released in 2019 and gained quite a few accolades as well as healthy airplay and media exposure.
CP Fletcher cites David Bowie as his main influence. Other acts that he considers akin in style are John Grant, ex-Mansun singer Paul Draper, The Anchoress and other New Wave and Synthpop indebted artists like Editors, Mark Lanegan or White Lies.
“Speedtrain” is OUT NOW. The album “Humdrum” arrives on March 4th on all relevant digital platforms. For more information please visit www.apermanentshadow.com