Patrick Jones has earlier this month released a new poetry album with music written by The Membranes' John Robb. You can listen to the lead track 'No Borders From The Sky' on Gigwise below.
It starts out with soundbites from the UK television news about some of the harrowing impacts austerity is having on citizens, before Donald Trump's disturbing 2016 chant, "build that wall", comes in.
It then cuts to Patrick Jones, who is backed by dark orchestral music. Written by John Robb, the dominant single drum evokes the beating of a war drum as haunting sustained bass notes lock in with the repetitive central string motif. A motif which soon sinks in the mix as the track flowers into more melodic beauty.
Thematically, Patrick Jones succinctly captures the reality of our flawed planet with vivid writing and heartfelt delivery. His poem appears to emphasis how at odds politics of divide and conquer are compared with our innate desire as a species to roam the planet. And the below video, directed by Evan Jones, shows real footage of the refugee crisis.
The album it's taken from is titled Renegade Psalms and composer John Robb has released it on his record label Louder Than War Records. It is limited to 300 physical copies.
Speaking of the collaboration, Robb exclusively tells Gigwise: "The Manic Street Preachers have always been one of our most humane bands and a tight-knit family of noise from the Welsh valleys. So it was an honour to work with Nicky Wire’s older brother Patrick Jones who sent me recording of his powerful, emotional poems of life and politics in these Brexit times. I set them to orchestral pieces that capture the melancholy and emotive content of these brilliant words and made the art marriage work..."
Meanwhile, The Membranes will tour as main support to Mark Lanegan on his November and December European tour.
The Membranes are touring in support of their acclaimed new album What Nature Gives Nature Takes Away. Of which Gigwise's Richard Foster, says: "The new record is - to use the seventeenth century adoption of an old, old term - a Leviathan; a crushingly powerful entity without master. And a relentlessly inquisitive, colourful beast that over repeated listen reveals a strong social sensibility and promises of brighter things."
