It’s also drawn career-best performances from long-running Champs members such as Collison, guitarist Paul Lush, pedal steel player Henry Senior, drummer Steve Brookes and saxophonist ‘Free Jazz’ Geoff Widdowson, alongside equally fine contributions from Daniel Hawkins on bass and a second saxophone player, Lachlan Wilson, who is Danny’s uncle, based in the family’s native Australia. On ‘The Robot Cries’ in particular, Wilson Sr. evokes the freewheeling spirit of Mel Collins with Dire Straits, Andy Mackay on Roxy Music’s Avalon or Raphael Ravenscroft winding his way down to ‘Baker Street.’ “That space is all there,” says Wilson. “The bed is synths, piano, bass, drums, and then Lushy’s got all the sky in the world. He’s kind of the David Gilmour of the record and Henry is the Robert Fripp.”
‘You Are Not A Stranger Here’ also has its own subtle concept. “The way the record is laid out is across a day,” explains Danny. “You hear the weather report in the morning and then you’re immediately into this question of ‘I know what I’m doing, but I don’t know why I’m doing it anymore. As it goes through the day, you get the commute, the hold message from a call centre and finally ending the day back home with ‘Sooner or Later.'” The theme is embellished by some beautifully expressive mood pieces such as ‘Kicking Tyres’ and deft, inter-song soundscaping by Collison. Both ‘The Robot Cries’ and the valedictory ‘Sooner or Later’ will soon be augmenting the band’s stockpile of singalongs. ‘Sooner or Later’ is definitely our stab at doing a ‘Modern Love,’ ’80s Bowie thing,” notes Danny. “I totally love it. We did a tour in Spain recently and that was our encore, and it went down an absolute storm.”
More than a quarter-century since Wilson emerged with his brother Julian at the helm of the much-loved Grand Drive, he acknowledges the step change in his approach to his song craft this time. “I think it’s one of those records where you suddenly think, you’re not old but you’re not a kid anymore, and you wake up and go, ‘What’s this all about? The songs don’t profess to know anything. In fact, they’re a lot less self-assured than all of the previous thirty years of songs. I’m looking in the mirror a bit here.”
“As a result, it’s a weird mix of looking at yourself and looking at the world. There’s nostalgia in there, and there’s regret. I’d been reading and talking about lots of things that maybe you don’t do so much when you’re young. Not the big questions, but you find yourself going ‘Sorry, can we just stop and think ‘What’s the point here?’ And I guess the title of the album is reflective of that.” ‘You Are Not A Stranger Here’ grew out of extensive discussions among the Champs, and between Wilson and Collison in particular, about what type of album they wanted to make, and how it needed to reflect Danny’s far-reaching set of recent sonic and literary fuel. “I made a playlist that I shared with the band, and I was constantly adding to it,” he says, adding with a laugh: “No, I didn’t test them. But it wouldn’t have taken more than a few songs for them to realise ‘OK, the terrain is different here.’
Talking a Good Game (5.01)
Kicking Tyres (8.57)
Last Exit (1.16)
Every Door You Have Ever Opened (0.53)
I’m in Love (5.47)*
Future Past (5.28)*
In Search of Koji (1.08)
The Robot Cries (6.37)
The Poetics of Space (2.48)
Sooner or Later (5.57)
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