One of our favourite singer songwriters John Howard has once again turned to the lost art of the ‘single’ for his latest release.
After his release of the Double A side Currently/I Am Not Gone earlier this year, he has followed this up with another pair of songs If There’s a Star and Little Prince.
“I rather enjoy writing songs meant as singles,” says Howard, who originally recorded in the 1970s and then re-emerged as an independent artist in the 21st century.
“It kind of concentrates the mind differently to when a track is part of a bigger album project. And the speed at which singles can be released online now is also attractive”.
He adds: “It reminds me of how John Lennon wrote, recorded and released ‘Instant Karma’ in 1970, insistent that everything was done as quickly as possible.
“Though now, without the wait for physical copies to be pressed, singles can take even less time to get out there.”
On this latest release If There’s a Star is a love song about stars, and how one can send a loved one a message across the universe.
It’s a lovely slice of late 1960s pop, complete with harpsichord, love and melody, all wrapped up perfectly in a little over three minutes.
Meanwhile, Little Prince has a similar galactic theme, this time based on the novel of the same name, “whose tiny planet floats around the sun”, says Howard.
Little Prince is jauntier and dare I say even Christmassy. The echo of a festive Top of the Pops of yesteryear accompanies this throughout.
All four tracks single tracks released this year are standalone, specifically written and recorded as singles and not for any future albums.
And after a year of single releases he is set to return to the world of the long player and release a new album in Spring 2025. Watch out for that.
By Joe Lepper
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