Lost and Found in the Lowlands

The second album by Paul Inglis – Release Date April 7th 2020. Available now on Spotify, Apple Music, Tidal and more.

Earlier this year, when the extent of the virus threat was first becoming apparent, there was resistance by some people in Australia to the long-term closure of schools. The notion of students having a "lost year" of education was considered intolerable by some. Yet, it is clear that many will remember 2020 as "The Lost Year". Loss of jobs, loss of security, loss of life, the list of loss is long.

However, even in a time of international crisis, life for most goes on. Just as things will be lost, other things will be found. New ways of doing things, inner reserves of strength and courage, and ultimately a cure for the scourge that afflicts us.

Of course, the situation will bring out both the best and the worst in society, and much of that will be beyond the control of any individual.

So the title of my new album, completed as the pandemic spread, assumed a relevance beyond the merely personal. The title was inspired by living in the Netherlands for three years, but I always knew that it possessed other meanings.

Although almost all of the songs were penned last year, or earlier, the applicability of many of the lyrics was apparent. I am a firm believer in the notion that a song should not just be about "one thing". A song will quickly become nostalgia if it is too tied to its time. Also, songs that are literally just "about me" would be useless to anyone else.

You might guess, if you examine the lyrics, that the songs cannot all be about my life. I would have needed to have lived a dozen lives to be the characters in each of my songs! Like a novelist, I create characters and situations and then write. It is also obvious to me that many of these songs have subconsciously emerged from the novel that I am currently working on. The significance of that will only be apparent when the book is finished, but at times you may experience a brief taste of certain moments.

Track one, "Ballad of the Singer", is the story of Joe Rodger, an almost-famous singer who was a one hit wonder. In Belgium. You are going to hear a lot more about Joe.

Track two, “The Perfect Crime”, started out as a joke about “four chord” songs, then developed into a stream-of-consciousness lyric by rock legend Dave Blade. What, you’ve never heard of Dave Blade? You haven’t been reading the right books!

Track three, “Wake Me Up at the End of the World”, was written in 2019, but the sentiment seems to be appropriate for every disaster that befalls us in the 21st century. Sometimes my only refuge is a certain wry humour.

Track four, “Wendy Blue “, tells the tragic tale of a young woman who is trapped inside a song written by a very famous songwriter. Can you guess who? He’s not one of my fictional characters, for once, and it’s one of his early songs. Long ago I wrote a sad song (“Down to the Road”) about a man being trapped in one of his songs, but as it turns out, it’s even more tragic for women.

Track five, “I Got Me a Lawyer”, is Joe again, musing over his on-again/off-again relationship with a certain Ellen MacKinzie. Of course, it’s hard to maintain a steady romance when you’re trying to save the world!

Track six, “First They Take Away Your Idols”, is about two very famous songwriters. I was almost an altar boy, being raised Catholic, so I can relate to certain aspects of their lives, as detailed in their very famous memoirs.

Track seven, “Maybe They’re All Charlies”, was inspired by a tragic event from a few years ago, and then run through the prism of experience. The original version of the lyric was too specific and would have dated quickly, but time cures all impertinence.

Track eight, “Why Do You Resist Him”, is a bit of light relief, Joe and Ellen from a third-person perspective. I thought this one was just too confusing to be written “first-person”.

Track nine, “How Does It Feel”, is perhaps confusingly written from a first-person perspective, but that does give it a somewhat chilling aspect. There are certain lines that were “interesting” to sing during times like these! I managed to record seven of the songs between January and March, as the crisis evolved. Let me say that a certain urgency to get these songs finished emerged as time flew past.

Track ten, “Three Minutes to Heaven”, already existed in a slightly different form, and some of you may have heard the earlier version of this. I upped the tempo, which was already sprightly, to give it more urgency, and added in extra rhythmic interest as the original sounded a tad bland.