Hi Graham! You’re about to release Castle Park, originally recorded in 2011. Why did it never previously surface?
It was recorded at the same time as A+E, with Ben Hillier. We had 20 songs which seemed to fall into two different piles. Castle Park was supposed to follow A+E, then a flurry of Blur stuff happened, then I moved onto other stuff.
How does it sound to you 15 years on?
I like the imperfections of it. My approach is, how vibey does it sound? It was very loose, all about getting the stuff down.
Are you one of those musicians who likes recording on vintage gear?
A little bit. There’s something you can get out of mistreating that equipment which you don’t get away with on digital. For mixing we used this funny little German console Ben found [an EMT A100], which is easily abused. The whole thing was cooking and red hot. You wouldn’t want to crack an egg on it because that would be dangerous, but you could, and it just sounded good that way. The record does have that olde worlde, slightly ’60s-influenced vibe to it.
It’s quite a lovelorn record…
Yeah, and the disgruntlement in it is quite teenagery. It’s got a lot of what I used to think I was good at, which were quite whiny songs about heartbreak. I’ve got castles, lakes, bandstands and things in the cover photo, which I associate with my youth. The first track is called “Billy Says”, and I just thought, ‘Well, who’s Billy?’ I suppose it’s close to Billy Liar, with his complicated romantic situation.
Your solo albums have varied starkly in style at times. Was Castle Park another left turn?
I’m fickle in terms of my moods. I can go between Charlie Mingus, Rainbow, Chic and The Jam in 15 minutes. Not all of it is reflected in my own music of course, but I feel that if I am enough of a magnet, then some shards are going to stick. But
Is there any new solo material imminent?
Uh, possibly. I suppose some of the stuff that Rose [Elinor Dougall, musical and romantic partner] thinks is shit could end up being solo… but we’re just putting the finishing touches to a new Waeve album, which is coming together nicely.
And are Blur still in cold storage?
Cold storage! That’s a good idea! I could freeze them until… no, everyone’s doing stuff. Damon’s
Old? Willie Nelson’s still gigging in his nineties! And your old mates Oasis have been playing a few shows, we hear. Did you catch any of them?
No, but I did bump into Liam the other day. I see him in a pub up the road from me that does a nice bit of lunch, we often have a chat: [as Graham] “How’s the gigs going?” [adopts Liam voice] “Feeling good man, yeah, good thing to do…”
You’re playing a solo show at London’s Forum with a full band later this year…
Yeah. I didn’t know it was billed as a ‘career-spanning gig’. Has it got to be career spanning? Does that mean we have to do “Song 2”?! I don’t know, but I’ll be with some old mates, so it should be fun.
Castle Park is released by Transgressive on 19 June along with reissues of The Sky Is Too High and The Golden D; the rest of Coxon’s solo catalogue will be reissued over the next 12 months
Graham Coxon
Castle Park
Transgressive
7/10
Unreleased 2012 album surfaces alongside reissues of Blur guitarist’s early solo LPs
Although created during sessions for 2012’s A+E as a potential follow-up release, Castle Park’s 10 tracks ended up shelved. They’re dusted off now to launch a series of Coxon reissues (1998’s The Sky Is Too High and 2000’s The Golden D also start the run), and there’s nothing here to suggest they went unreleased for quality-control reasons. Indeed, Coxon has played several live before – including opener “Billy Says”, a loveably scruffy, Kinksian chunk of valve-amp guitar pop focusing on a romantic protagonist who is “feeding you a line”. “Alright” and “It’s Funny How” adopt a similarly lovelorn teen voice (think a less flagrantly ridiculous Jilted John) to deliver more cute indie pop, and “There’s A Little House” leans into the nostalgia of the sleeve art, depicting landmarks from Coxon’s Colchester childhood including the titular green space. An arresting outlier, though, is “Another Dripping Soul”, blending Western twang and Joe Meek-style ghostly backing vocals in a compelling slice of self-laceration.
Johnny Sharp