Colin Harper: ‘Better Weather’ is a gentle rumination on the state of the world, written last year. No finger-pointing or hectoring, just a bit sad. It feels like end times – there’s no point pretending otherwise. Still, you never know… A few people have told me it’s my best song and yes, it probably is. We’re all time-poor these days and I can’t expect radio to want a six-minute, slow-burning song that starts like something from Joni Mitchell and becomes something akin to the Who before the embers fade. I couldn’t face trying to cut it in half myself – I’m too close – so I wondered if my great pal Sarah McQuaid, whose songwriting and fearlessness I’ve always loved, and her sound engineer Martin Stansbury would give it a go. They did – and somehow they’ve removed the rock and kept the roll and it still makes some sense.’
Sarah McQuaid: ‘Colin is an old friend and has enlisted both me and my long-time manager/sound engineer Martin Stansbury to work with him on various projects over the years — but never both of us on the same project until now, so I was absolutely thrilled when he asked us to come up with a “radio edit” of his new single, especially as the vocals on the track are by the wonderful Katie Spencer, an artist whose work I admire tremendously. It’s a tricky job reducing a six-minute song to half its original length while trying to retain its “epic” feel, but I hope we’ve managed to boil it down to its essence and keep the lyrics — and Katie’s beautifully understated delivery of them — front and centre.’
‘Better Weather’ is a microcosm of the Legends of Tomorrow’s ‘supergroup’ ethos, featuring four notable musicians from the worlds of Irish jazz, blues-rock and folk along with Katie Spencer, a fast-rising young singer, songwriter and guitarist from Yorkshire:
Colin: ‘I met Katie through encountering her partner Henry Parker’s music online. I sought Henry out on a holiday in Yorkshire and he introduced me to Katie’s music – which is just as wonderful, but in its own unique way. They both draw deeply from the well of 1960s British folk influences – the sort of artists I’ve written about in magazines, books and box set essays for the past 30 years. I was stunned when I was told they were each reading my book on Bert Jansch, Dazzling Stranger, when they met. Asking Katie to sing on ‘Better Weather’ felt rather karmic. Her performance on it is, as it always is, dazzling – and she’s no longer a stranger. I feel very blessed that she was keen to do it. I definitely owe her a favour, so here it is: Katie, I promise never to play guitar on one of your own records!’
