STANLEY BRINKS & THE WAVE PICTURES are pleased to reveal their new single ‘Sober In Barcelona’—the latest track to be taken from their forthcoming new album, Tequila Island, released 21st June 2019 on Fika Recordings.
Perfectly timed for Primavera Festival week, it’s an ode to a lost afternoon in the baking Spanish sun that sees Stan mournfully lamenting a period of sobriety on the Plaça de Sol in Gràcia that he swears he’ll never put himself through again.
Tequila Island sees Stanley Brinks joined by The Wave Pictures for their fifth album together, and their first since 2015’s My Ass. That’s not to say either have been slacking in that time—both are notoriously prolific: The Wave Pictures have turned out five albums, and Brinks seven, since they last came together in the studio.
For this latest venture, Stan arrived at the studio with several CDs worth of unrecorded songs on a balmy North London night and instructed The Wave Pictures to pick out some favourites to jam during the following three nights of recording sessions. To anyone familiar with Stanley Brinks’ huge discography—more than 100 albums—Tequila Island might sound more raw, in a way; less sophisticated than some of his other recordings. It’s still rich in jazzy sounds and original structures however—the tracks are looser and full of playfulness, with the lyrics carrying the essence of the songs.
Produced by Dave Tattersall of The Wave Pictures, the album was recorded by Laurie Sherman at the Booze Cube, London in the summer of 2018, with all songs written by Stanley Brinks. Tequila was obviously the inspiration for the album, both while writing, and recording…
Stanley Brinks was born in Paris, France, in 1973. He studied a bit of biology and worked as a nurse for a while. Half Swedish, half Moroccan, strongly inclined to travel the world, he soon began spending most of his life on the road and developed a strong relationship with New York. By the late 90s he’d become a full time singer-songwriter—André Herman Düne—as part of three piece indie-rock band, Herman Düne.
Several albums and Peel sessions later, and after a decade of touring Europe, mostly with American songwriters such as Jeffrey Lewis, Calvin Johnson and early Arcade Fire he settled in Berlin. The early carnival music of Trinidad became a passion, and in the early 21st century he became the unquestioned master of European calypso, changing his name to Stanley Brinks. Under this moniker he has recorded more than 100 albums, collaborated with the New York antifolk scene on several occasions, recorded and toured with traditional Norwegian musicians, and played a lot with The Wave Pictures.
The Wave Pictures are David Tattersall, Franic Rozycki and Jonny ‘Huddersfield’ Helm. Formed in 1998 when Rozycki and Tattersall lived in a village called Wymeswold, the band played with several drummers until Helm became a permanent member in 2003 replacing Hugh J Noble.
In the beginning the band learned to play together by covering Jonathan Richman songs, but soon Tattersall was writing swathes of original material. They have since released six studio albums to critical acclaim and played numerous sessions on BBC 6 Music, Radio 1 and Radio X. Interest generated from these recordings has enabled The Wave Pictures to play shows all over the world with artists including Jeffrey Lewis, Darren Hayman, Stanley Brinks,Freschard and Herman Düne.
Stanley Brinks & The Wave Pictures live dates TBA
Tequila Island is released 21st June via Fika Recordings
Tequila Island track list:
1. Song of Siggi
2. Living Without You
3. Like A Fool
4. Underwater
5. Like A Song
6. Tequila Island
7. Sober In Barcelona
8. Vermut
9. Gin In Me
10. Four Times We Kissed
11. Little Irene