London powerpop-folk rocker SIMON BROMIDE releases ‘The Waiting Room’, teasing debut album ‘Following The Moon’

Indie folk-rock artist SIMON BROMIDE has released ‘The Waiting Room’, the lead track from his debut album ‘Following The Moon’ (out November 19 via Scratchy Records / Cargo Records). Best known as frontman of South London three-piece BROMIDE (formed 25 years ago), this past year of frequent lockdown inspired him to try his hand as a solo artist. A sure pleaser for fans of Big Star, Sloan, The Church, The Chills, Tom Petty, Lloyd Cole, and Tom Cochrane, Simon actually did have some help here. Recorded by BRIAN O’SHAUGHNESSY (Primal Scream, My Bloody Valentine, Beth Orton), other notable artists enter the picture elsewhere on the album, including TERRY EDWARDS (Nick Cave, Tom Waits, P.J.Harvey) on trumpet. Watch the cleverly crafted animated video https://youtu.be/–v_Ge747kk

Joyzine writes, “Simon’s still creating lovely jangly indie pop tunes, full of heart and packed with catchy choruses”, calling this single “a charming, warm-hearted three minutes of sunshine bursting through clouds that follows a lineage of classic British guitar pop that trails back through Teenage Fanclub to Elvis Costello and beyond”

“A febrile soul who can do pop in many voices” ~ Melody Maker

“Simon Berridge’s voice is as strong as ever, with the songwriter only gaining in sound and fury” ~ Clash Magazine

“This is catchy, upbeat, well-structured and impeccably delivered – with a winner of a debut release, Simon Bromide has our attention” ~The Spill Magazine

“Romping, indie-pop blast“ ~The Times

“Memorable slices of acoustic whimsy” ~ Q magazine

“Berridge has an ear for a canny tune and a keen lyrical eye for detail… Ray-Davies-meets-Lloyd-Cole crooning” ~ The Big Issue

Simon Bromide (aka Simon Berridge), perhaps best known as the frontman of South London indie pop / power pop outfit Bromide, has released ‘The Waiting Room’, the lead track from his solo album ‘Following The Moon’ in late autumn via Scratchy Records with distribution by Cargo Records. The animated video, cleverly crafted using plastercine figures and model train sets, was directed, shot, animated, modelled and edited by Ben Pollard.

“The song is about the things that didn’t happen for one reason or another. Simple twists of fate or just stepping back from the edge.. in particular the lyrics refer to a letter proposing marriage sent to my mother many years ago. The letter never arrived and the sender presumed the lack of a reply was his answer. Things were different back then.. as it says in the song ‘The Postal Service Saved My Life’,” says Simon Berridge.

This is essentially a solo album – with a lot of help. It was recorded at Bark Studios in Walthamstow by Brian O’Shaughnessy (Primal Scream, My Bloody Valentine, Beth Orton), who had worked with Berridge on the last two Bromide albums. The album features drummer Fells Guilherme (Children of The Pope), bassist Ed ‘Cosmo’ Wright, multi-instrumentalists Dave Hale, Dimitri Ntontis and Stephen Elwell, as well as folk-pop chanteuse Katy Carr on piano and Terry Edwards (Nick Cave, Tom Waits, P.J.Harvey) on trumpet. Scottish singer Julie Anne McCambridge joins Simon on the closing track, the William Blake penned ‘Earth’s Answer’.

This is Berridge’s first output since Bromide’s ‘Ancient Rome’ and ‘I’ll Never Learn’ singles, both released in 2020. Their most recent album ‘I Woke Up’, with singles ‘Magic Coins’ and ‘Two Song Slot’, was met with popular acclaim, receiving positive reviews and airplay in dozens of countries.

Influenced equally by The Beatles, Neil Young, Mark Eitzel and Bob Mould, Simon Berridge creates ultra-catchy, jangly acoustic pop / electric rock. All songs are rooted in the acoustic guitar and then fleshed out with bass, drums, electric guitar and whatever seemed to fit the songs – hammond organ, piano, mellotron and brass.

Writing songs since he was 16, Simon Berridge has gone through many band line-ups in his decades-long music career with moods shifting a few times – from acoustic Neil Young-ish stuff to more full on Husker Du-style noise pop and back again. Since founding Bromide in 1996, the band has released six albums via London-based Scratchy Records.

“This album was born out of frequenting open mics and in particular the longest running wednesday night acoustic club in South-East London called The Easycome,” says Simon. Run by the notorious ‘Andy Hankdog’ (The Professionals, The Hank Dogs), the club has seen many pass through its doors – David Gray, Florence (Welch) Machine, Shingai from the Noisettes and more recently The Fat White Family and a host of luminaries from the burgeoning ‘South-East London scene’ including Goat Girl, Pre-Goblin and Misty Miller.

Simon adds, “Playing at these nights has taught me a lot about playing at these nights! It’s given me some great memories and introduced me to some fine musicians – a lot of whom ended up on the record”

Album track ‘The Skehans Song’ pays homage to the club and features the ‘Easycome choir’ with Andy Hankdog, Scarlett Woolfe and Vincent Davies.

As of October 15, Simon Bromide’s ‘The Waiting Room’ will be released everywhere digitally. His ‘Following The Moon’ LP will be released on November 19 on vinyl and digitally. The single can be pre-saved on Spotify and pre-ordered at https://smarturl.it/simonbromidenewsingl.

ALBUM CREDITS
All songs written by Simon Berridge except ‘Earth’s Answer’ by William Blake, music by SB
Recorded at Bark Studios in Walthamstow by Brian O’Shaughnessy
Mastered by Jerome Schmitt at Airlab
Simon Berridge – vocals, acoustic & electric guitars
Fells Guilherme – drums & percussion
Ed ‘Cosmo’ Wright – bass guitar, acoustic guitar solo on ‘The Argument’
Dave Hale – backing vocals, electric guitar, Hammond organ & Piano
Dimitri Ntontis – Hammond organ + mellotron
Stephen Elwell – sound fx on ‘The Argument’ & ‘Earth’s Answer’
Katy Carr – piano on ‘The Skehans Song’ and ‘Reflections of Seating’
Terry Edwards – trumpet on ‘The Argument’
Julie Anne McCambridge – vocals on ‘Earth’s Answer’

TRACK LIST
1. The Waiting Room
2. Chinua Achebe
3. The Skehans Song
4. Not That Type
5. The Argument
6. Slow Release Love
7. Following The Moon
8. Reflections of Seating
9. Earth’s Answer

Order the single https://smarturl.it/simonbromidenewsingl
12″ Vinyl pre-order https://www.normanrecords.com/records/189757-simon-bromide-following-the-moon
Spotify LP pre-save https://smarturl.it/presavethwaitingrm

FOR FANS OF: Teenage Fanclub, Elvis Costello, The Church, The Chills, Lloyd Cole, Tom Petty, Tom Cochrane

Photos by Alastair Indge

LONDON LIVE DATES
Friday 5th November – 229 Gt Portland Street, London W1W 5PN supporting The Wolfhounds
Thursday 18th November – Biddle Bros, 88 Lower Clapton Rd, Lower Clapton, London E5 0QR + Matthew Neel + Ger Lane
Friday 19th November – Album Launch at The Old Dispensary, Camberwell SE5 0TF + Dirty Viv + Hankdog + Julie Anne McCambridge
Friday 26th November – The Jenny Lind, Hastings TN34 3EW supporting Jason McNiff