VerseChorusVerse today releases 4th album, ‘what if we won’ exclusively on Bandcamp.
“This is my 4th solo album; making 7 in total including the two classic And So I Watch You From Afar albums and The Tragedy of Dr Hannigan’s debut album.
I wrote and recorded this album entirely by myself – even down to the minimalist artwork – making this the most DIY project I have undertaken.
Which, after my first book and audiobook, is saying something…if I do say so myself.
I’m very proud of it.
I, like all of us, was in Lockdown for the vast majority of last year.
I had just moved to a new city (Glasgow) after spending several months in isolation in an Italian mountain village (Cassalatico).
The year before my close friend, Robert, took his life.
Tragically, Robert is not the first friend I have lost this way. I had worked closely with him, one of the greatest songwriters I’ve ever met, and he vanished the night I released my book.
I only found out the next day. He was found nearly a week later.
Although I wasn’t; I felt partly responsible and I fled Belfast and my friends as I tried to deal with this trauma.
I had all but quit music; convinced I was on the same path as my friend.
I moved into my new Scottish home alone – after months also alone in Italy – & another friend, Andy, took their life.
I’d known Andy since he was 13.
Found out we lost him on Xmas morning.
Shortly thereafter, a pandemic hit.
The combination of the trauma from losing two friends in this manner, plus the low lying anxiety that was eating us all up in the background, led me along a lot of dark paths that all seemed to end up in the same, terrible place.
As well as this, I was in the midst of fighting another separate battle that, hopefully, one day I will be able to talk about.
I feared I was doomed to the same fate.
It seemed unescapable, grimly inevitable.
All the while, the World was confined indoors due to COVID.
Yet somehow the world outside literally burned around us.
Forest fires raged, and so did we, as we saw US Police Officer Derek Chauvin casually murder George Floyd, whilst an overtly sexist, racist and corrupt President stood in the White House goading everyone on.
The UK had just crashed out of Europe as another overt sexist and corrupt racist stood in the halls of power in Downing Street, both wearing their lies and toxicity as Teflon armour.
All of this highlighted the deeply ingrained systemic Racism that was/is somehow the norm.
Those fires in the forests soon independently started in the cities too.
Protests multiplied and spread like an obvious metaphor across the globe.
We all felt powerless, glued to our screens, and we vocalised our frustrations through the echo chamber sanctuaries of social media; whilst FB, Twitter, Instagram etc profited (& continue to do so) from our malaise and misery as they put our values through the meat grinder that is their ad revenue driven algorithms.
At times it really did feel like the end. How had we allowed it to get so far?
In an attempt to pull some sense of control into my life and how it was unfolding after much too long in near complete isolation, I started recording music again.
I started to not feel as powerless.
I was desperately lonely and in a dark place – I lost my voice from simply not speaking to anyone – but something inside me flipped and I had enough of hiding in the dark.
Suddenly the possibility of positivity seemed within reach.
I didn’t dwell too much on it, and just kept working, writing, sifting through trauma, creating and basically by doing what felt natural to me. Plus developing a new way to use my voice.
The result, is this record.
Probably the closest I’ve ever came to making a concept record – its a clear journey from start to finish.
This album is for anyone and everyone who has ever felt silenced.
It is for those of us that felt disconnected through no fault of their own.
It is for the “losers” now, later to win.
For the dreamers.
For the kid that finally stands up for themselves, and others.
For all of us.
Make no mistake, we’re not there yet – but we’re closer everyday… if we want to be.
There is no question about it.
what if we won.” T.Wright 5/5/21
‘what if we won’ is released exclusively on Ltd Edition Vinyl & Digitally from Bandcamp on 21st May 2021, following to the streaming “services” 3 weeks later.
