Wire bassist & vocalist Edvard Graham Lewis announces new solo album ‘Alreet?’ out January 24th via Upp Records and share “Last Scene Of All”.
This week, Maverick musician and artist Edvard Graham Lewis returns with new album ‘Alreet?’: an exciting album of majestic, experimental pop set for release on January 24th via Upp Records.
The cheery North Eastern greeting of the album’s title belies the tension and drama that lies within. Here, you’ll find visceral rhythms, warm electronics and multiple melodic layers, with words that are sometimes sung, sometimes spoken. Lewis’s deep, distinctive voice has matured into a rich baritone: portentous yet immediate - and it serves his material exceptionally well.
Along with the announcement he shares the urgent broadcast “Last Scene Of All”, where speeches from Shakespeare’s As You Like It and The Tempest lock together to suggest a life going out with a bang not a whimper.
Lewis is one of very few artists with the confidence and brio to create a lyric collaged purely from the works of Shakespeare. Set against chugging beats and siren squeals of guitar, it’s a fevered and compelling introduction to the album.
Although Edvard Graham Lewis is perhaps best known as bassist/vocalist/lyricist with post-punk titans Wire, Lewis’s solo work is equally powerful. Lyrically he remains one of our finest wordsmiths. His desire to edit his text to its essentials is smartly counterbalanced by an ability to seed double or triple meanings in his phraseology. Consequently, 'Alreet?' is studded with lines and couplets that snare our attention with unexpected hooks and barbs.
The album was co-produced with Swedish songwriter, producer and musician Max Lorentz, who has worked with everyone from acclaimed composer Magnus Lindberg, to ABBA’s Agnetha Faltskog. It features contributions from Wire cohorts Matthew Simms and Robert Grey, cello by Kevin Kirs Vestege, hurdy-gurdy by Harald Pettersson and guitars sampled from ex-Wire member Bruce Gilbert.
Aside from his work with Wire, Lewis has previously released a string of solo albums, under both his own name and the He Said and H-A-L-O monikers. Meanwhile, in partnership with Wire’s Bruce Gilbert, he created five albums of industrial strength studio manipulation as Dome. He has also recorded scores for documentaries, dance pieces and art installations, as well as recording collaborative albums with various musical luminaries, including Mike Watt, Jean-Louis Huhta, Ted Milton and Anna Livia Löwendahl-Atomic.
As ‘Alreet?’ clearly demonstrates, Lewis is still firmly facing the future and determined to unearth new sonic treasure. Indeed, this is one of the most starkly original albums you will hear all year.