Singer songwriter. Psychedelic Folk pop.
The third solo album from the U.K.’s talented singer-songwriter, Chris Lewington "Starfish Memories" features 11 tracks that reflect the world we live in from songs about personal relationships to war in Ukraine, COVID and COP 26. Immediate hooks and singalong chorus's combine with more intimate ballads to create a strong and powerful new record from one of Britain's most eclectic recording artists.
Opening song “Blue Skies, Fields of Gold” could be an anthem for Ukrainian resistance. “Radio Radio” has that sort of nagging catchline you just can’t get out of your head. “The Bridge At Midnight” is coded and dense lyrically and builds to an apocalyptic cataclysm. “It’s Going To Be Okay” has been described as the “ perfect anthem as we emerge from Covid”.
Chris Lewington has been a musician since his early teens when he first picked up the guitar. His first love was not pop or rock music but movie themes and his earliest musical heroes were the likes of Ennio Morricone and John Barry. Later in his teens, listening to the singer- songwriters of the time he started to write songs. “It struck me how someone like Paul Simon or Leonard Cohen could wrap complex themes of love, life and existence up in just a 3 or 4 minute tune with a timeless melody”.He started his first band, The Silence, in the early 80s and released the singles, “A Car in Denmark” and “The Hangman’s Beautiful Daughter,” The Silence also feature alongside the likes of Julian Cope on the the cult compilation, “A Splash of Colour”, that followed the early 80’s psychedelic revival.
Later followed The Bicycle Thieves, playing a similar style to REM and Lloyd Cole. Chris penned the singles “Ghostdance” and “Louise,” both of which received airplay on BBC Radio 1. “Louise” would go on to win the 1989 TDK Songwriter Award while another single, “Waterfront” received airplay and some notice on the UK Charts. Chris also recorded with the renowned producer Tony Visconti during this period.
In the early 90s, Chris returned to his singer- songwriter roots as he started a new project called The Famous Blue Raincoats, a folky acoustic style band that performed in smaller sized venues in and around London. A compilation album of their work is available now on streaming sites. During the 90s and 2000s, Lewington concentrated on writing new material to pitch to publishers.
It was not until 2018 that Chris set aside time to finally release his first official full- length album as a solo artist. “Technology had advanced to the point that you could make decent recordings for release using just a laptop and recording in your own home”. Hence the title of the album, Landells Road, named after the street where it was recorded, and as a sort of homage to The Beatles’ Abbey Road. “Riverside" was released in 2020. This time there was a more pastoral feel to the album now that Chris had moved to Kent. There is a very English feel to much of the record including songs about the Pre-Raphaelites and a setting of a Rupert Brookes poem. There is also more of a 70's singer songwriter sound on many of the tracks.