Sivu, aka British songwriter James Page, has announced his long-awaited third full length album Wild Horse Running will be released on the 9th June via Square Leg Records. The album announcement coincides with the release of captivating new single “Apollo”, and follows the release of the album’s title track last month.
Produced by long time collaborator Charlie Andrew, new album Wild Horse Running was written over a period of 12 months between 2021 and 2022; 10 tracks in all, the album feels like his truest work yet.
The writing process began with newly released single “Apollo”. “It felt like a step forward,” says Page. With a smart, slinky bassline, suspenseful hats, and hooky vocals, it provides one of the most direct, immediate moments on the album, with Page dissecting his own relationship with songwriting and artistry as a whole. “It was the first song we did in the studio and so it felt like a blueprint for what the record was going to be…”
Delving more into the track’s lyrical themes, Page said: “The word Apollo just rolled off the tongue when I was first writing this song. Diving deeper into the mythology of Apollo, being the god of poetry and music art, I pursued my relationship with creating and how I am in some ways a slave to it. Accepting that gave me a sense of freedom and a headspace to address my long-term and (at times) troubled relationship with it. No matter the lengths I have gone to at times to escape it, I get clawed back in (which I am incredibly thankful for) – \I’m crawling / from where nobody knows / Apollo’. I will never stop writing music I understand that now, but it is my Achilles heel.”
On working together again, producer and Square Leg Records label founder Charlie Andrew said: “James is such a special artist, he’s a big part of the reason I started the label originally and I’m very honoured that he’s trusted me in the studio across all 3 of his albums. We took a bit of a different approach this time round, partly due to the challenges of writing/recording during the pandemic and partly hitting upon a formula that seemed to work as we progressed. It’s more upbeat than Sweet Sweet Silent. He was in a different life space writing it and I think that comes across in the music. He’s also been more hands-on in the studio, chipping in with a lot of programming ideas etc. This made the process feel fresh for us, it was a total pleasure.”
Upcoming live shows…
14 June – London – Courtyard Theatre (Album Release Show)
11 August – Boardmasters Festival
