1970s singer songwriter turned independent artist John Howard has revisited two unreleased tracks from his Night Mail project from 2015 for his latest release.
The double A side single features two tracks to emerge from the project, Safety in Numbers and In the Light of Fires Burning.
These two piano and vocal driven tracks are a taster for his forthcoming album Single Return, says Howard.
Safety in Numbers was written by Howard and one of his Night Mail collaborators Robert Rotifer, while In The Light of Fires Burning was co-written with another Night Mailer, Ian Button.
Both were recorded by Howard at home in Spain and mastered by Button.
Safety in Numbers is vintage Howard, wonderful vocals and piano, blending melancholy with West End and Hollywood flourishes, complete with Sunset Boulevard references. The vocals are really something for the final of its four minutes.
Meanwhile, In the Light of Fires Burning, makes good use of Howard’s vocals to sound as if it had emerged straight from the early 1970s. This is perhaps unsurprising given Button’s late 1960s early 1970s inspired Papernut Cambridge project.
There are similar cultural references too, with Telstar and Gerry Goffin getting a run out on this track. There’s Emily too, presumably the one that Pink Floyd famously saw play. Seems she is now involved with her local Women’s Institute these days.
By Joe Lepper
Related Posts
