FILMED AT ICONIC SHEFFIELD VENUE THE LEADMILL
From the album ‘Fortunes Favour’ released April 9th 2021
Via Distiller Records
Album available to pre-order HERE
Sheffield musician Ed Cosens has released the video for new single ‘Lovers Blues’. The video was filmed at The Leadmill, one of Sheffield’s legendary Grassroots Music Venues that was recently saved from closure with help from Music Venue Trust’s #saveourvenues campaign. ‘Lovers Blues’ is the fourth single taken from Ed’s upcoming debut album Fortunes Favour, released April 9th 2021 via Distiller Records.
Pivoting from the short film series featured on previous singles ‘If’, ‘The River’, and ‘Madeleine’, Ed has teamed up with Rob Nicholson of Sheffield based film and photography studio Pedalo to film an inspired video at one of Sheffield’s most important venues. Maximising their time at the venue, and making the most of the restrictions enforced due to social distancing, Rob has cleverly cut together this one-man-band performance, with nods to OutKast’s ‘Hey Ya’ and Talking Heads’ ‘Stop Making Sense’.
Contrasting the lyrics’ weighty subjects of desire and lust, in what Ed describes as, “Seeing through the confusion of Cupid’s heady potions as you desperately try to find clarity”, the video is a joyous, light-hearted romp, “I loved the idea of doing what OutKast did and playing each member of the band. Despite it being a song about being unlucky in love, it has quite an upbeat feel so I wanted to reflect that in the video and not take it too seriously. Basically, I’ve managed to create the ideal world where I have a band made up entirely of me!”
Reminiscing on the work Music Venue Trust have done to save the UK’s grassroots music scene, Ed commented, “I saw a side-by-side picture the other day of Oasis. In one picture they were playing a small club venue titled 1994 and next to it an aerial picture of their famous Knebworth gig titled 1996. The point being that without the grassroots venues they and countless other bands played while developing and growing, the musical landscape of this country would be vastly different. It’s crucial that during this terrible time for bands and live music that we support grassroots venues all we can otherwise there won’t be a breeding ground for the next generation.”
As previously announced unforeseen circumstances led to the delay in the release of ‘Fortunes Favour’, Ed has been assuring eager fans that there will be more content before the record’s release: “I’m sorry to make you all wait a little longer to hear the record, but with the extra time now until the release it’s given me the opportunity to release more material and a few other lovely surprises. All pre-orders thus far are unaffected of course and appreciating the absurdity of the world at the moment I hope you all understand!”
A long-time lynchpin of the Sheffield music scene, best known as the guitarist and co-songwriter in Reverend & The Makers, Ed waited to make his solo debut until the time felt right. Only when his storytelling songs naturally found their own sound did he finally step from the shadows. “It’s only taken 10 years or so for me to find the confidence!” says the self-depreciating singer, who shared stages with Arctic Monkeys members Matt Helders and Alex Turner before the Makers took off.
‘If’, ‘The River’, ’Madeleine’, and now ‘Lovers Blues’ are tantalising glimpses of the established guitarist and first-time frontman’s majestic debut.Fortunes Favour casts a spell from the moment it opens; ten, timeless, strings-soaked songs are invitations to eavesdrop on life’s crossroads moments and the powerful emotions they evoke. Intimacy anchors expansive songs. Details are seductively spilled.
Both delving back decades through classic pop’s vaults and firmly fixed in the present, Fortunes Favour features languid guitars, brooding atmospherics and swooning strings. Ed’s sumptuous, soul-bearing vocals bewitch. His lyrics delve deep to capture complex emotions devoid of cliche.
Fortunes Favour took flight after Ed abandoned attempts to decide on a sound and instead let the songs lead the way. “After several attempts, it became the song that sent me in the right direction. With a lot of albums, it takes just one song to kick things off and If was that moment for me. It set out the stall for who I wanted to be as an artist with its strong sense of emotion and the journey that runs through it.”
Recorded at Giant Wafer Studios in Wales and produced by Ed and Dave Sanderson – aided in the recording room by Milburn’s Joe Carnall and The Crookes’ Adam Crofts – Fortunes Favour is a rare debut album made mid-career. It’s a record which deals in real life, rather than dreams, on which Ed pours 20 years of songwriting experience into looking back, dwelling on the moments that mattered.
Follow Ed Cosens on socials: https://linktr.ee/EdCosens
