Dark of the soul and with a simmering intensity, today PHILIP KANE presents his evocative new single: “Radio Friendly Death”. Featuring powerhouse vocals from Sharlene Hector (Basement Jaxx) and the guitar prowess of Boz Boorer (Morrissey / The Polecats); Kane presents a song of love and hate, life and death inspired by a conversation with Leonard Cohen that never was...
LISTEN ON SOUNDCLOUD || STREAM / BUY HERE
“Radio Friendly Death” is the most (allegedly) commercial track this outsider artist has ever written. As ever, lurking beneath a singalong chorus that somehow attempts to lyricise soul music, there are barbs and there is darkness. The narrative takes the form of an imaginary conversation with Leonard Cohen (“as he was graceful and all-knowing”) about how to handle loss and, its most extreme form, death. The conversation is initiated by a narrator who acknowledges “the ashtray’s nearly full; we’re approaching closing time” and that he’s, “another sad former stallion limping to the end of the line.”
Cohen’s advice is simple but characteristically profound, “Your work’s a living tissue; be careful not to bruise it. The only advice I’ve got to give is your resurrection is in the music.”
Punchy, tuneful and featuring a performance from Basement Jaxx vocalist, Sharlene Hector, the tune clocks in at under three-and-a-half minutes and, oddly for an indie artist, is influenced by Stevie Wonder’s ‘Masterblaster’, James Carr’s ‘Dark End of the Street and Shannon’s ‘Let The Music Play’. It features Boz Boorer, Morrissey’s guitarist, co-writer and musical director on guitar and may well be the most tuneful song about death ever written.
It comes from Kane’s remarkable fourth album, ‘Book of Broken Things’ - out now on the Corrupt Label. Alongside performances from Boz Boorer and Sharlene Hector, ‘Book of Broken Things’ features notable appearances from Ed Harcourt, Steve Jansen (Japan), Liam McKahey, Fiona Brice and Emma Pollock. Produced by James Night over the space of three years, it has been described as “Imagine if Scott Walker had ‘gone weird’ while still delivering great tunes” in Prog Magazine’s Art Rock column; whereas MOJO praised: “a resplendent fourth album that sits somewhere between Cohen, Cousteau and early solo Scott Walker”
PHILIP KANE RELEASES LEONARD COHEN-INSPIRED SINGLE: “RADIO FRIENDLY DEATH LISTEN ON SOUNDCLOUD NOW
FEATURING SHARLENE HECTOR (BASMENT JAXX)