OUT LINES – Share new single ‘There Is a Saved Place’, taken from debut album Conflats

OUT LINES - Share new single 'There Is a Saved Place', taken from debut album Conflats

Today, Out Lines – a new collaborative project between Kathryn Joseph, the singer-songwriter behind 2015 SAY Award-winning album bones you have thrown me and blood I’ve spilled; James Graham, frontman for Glaswegian indie treasures The Twilight Sad; and Marcus Mackay, critically-acclaimed producer, songwriter and percussionist, and founder of iconic recording studio The Diving Bell Lounge – share ‘There Is a Saved Place’, the second track drawn from their debut album, Conflats, which arrives Oct 27th on the renowned Rock Action.

This exciting new body of work was inspired by conversations Kathryn and James had with people who use Platform: a groundbreaking multi-arts and community space in Easterhouse, an area in the east end of Glasgow. With James and Kathryn at the helm of translating the stories heard through their conversations with locals and Marcus steering the sound, an inspiring collection of songs were written for a one-off headline performance as part of Outskirts Festival at Platform in April 2016 – an opportunity offered to the trio by Alun Woodward, formerly of The Delgados, who now works at Platform.

Using Kathryn’s signature ships piano, harmonium, a mix of Marcus’ unique percussion style – live and programmed drums with bass synth – alongside James and Kathryn taking turns on lead vocals in combination with their alchemic harmonies, this collaboration is set to be an exciting recorded entity. Conflats was recorded at Marcus’ own Diving Bell Lounge studio, mixed by Tony Doogan at Mogwai’s Castle of Doom and mastered at Abbey Road Studios by Frank Arkwright. The artwork for Conflats is an original piece by Scott Hutchinson of Frightened Rabbit.

Listen to ‘There Is a Saved Place’BELOW:

‘There Is a Saved Place’ offers another side of Conflats to the previously released ‘Buried Guns’, building from a mesmeric piano figure and Kathryn and James’ softly spoken vocals into call-and-response choruses that ride choppier waters. Speaking of the track’s inception, James says:

“When we were practising/writing ‘There Is a Saved Place’, Kathryn suggested that I do some sort of spoken word part within the song. At first I was a little hesitant but I said I’d go home and see what I could come up with. I sat in my flat and thought about a conversation we had with one of the many people we spoke with in Platform. I remembered his words really resonated with me.

“Like some of my lyrics on Conflats, I took inspiration from what the amazing people we spoke with told us about their struggles and how Platform has helped them. In some of the stories I saw parallels between their experiences and my own. On this occasion, it inspired me to write about how a special someone has helped me overcome some issues I have in everyday life which were similar to his. Speaking to him made me think that Platform helped with his everyday struggles like my special someone helps me with with similar struggles, and that’s what I wrote about”

Similarly, Kathryn explains how positivity and strength came out of the interviews:”Some parts of their stories were sad but they were all such strong beautiful humans and that made writing the songs so much easier than I thought it was going to be.”

Please see below for more info about Conflats as well as details on how to pre-order it. Out Lines recently announced a first date in support of the album taking place on November 5th 2017 at Glasgow’s historic Oran Mor – tickets are available here. Keep your eyes peeled for further UK dates to be announced very soon.

Xsnoize Author
Mark Millar is the founder of XS Noize and looks after the daily running of the website as well as hosting interviews for the weekly XS Noize Podcast. Mark's favourite album is Achtung Baby by U2.

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