John Howard - From The Far Side Of A Near Miss (CD)

Release Date: 09/09/22

One song, with a running time of 37 minutes that has a building hypnotic groove, along its sonic and lyrical journey.

And now, for something completely different... 'From The Far Side of A Near Miss' is proof that John Howard never fails to challenge himself and occasionally his audience too. His latest album is again something John has wanted to try for many years, following his discovery of British artists like Roy Harper and The Incredible String Band in the '70s who specialized in long-form pieces with developing narratives. 'From The Far Side of A Near Miss' is an album containing just one song, which has a running time of 37 minutes! John describes it as 'an evolving, building piece covering my recollections of friends and lovers through the years, the adventures and the conversation we had. Some are real, some imaginary, the characters and experiences being amalgams of all those things. Fans often tell me they look forward to each release as they have no idea what I'm going to come up with next. But then, usually neither have I!' The track has a building hypnotic groove, which begins simply with just piano and voice, gradually bringing in more instrumentation, the arrangement becoming fuller, percussion is added while strings then start to create a textural wash of sound and atmosphere, carrying the whole thing along its 37-minute sonic and lyrical journey. 'Most artists who missed the stardom bus return to silence and what-ifs. John Howard, who should have been famous in the mid-'70s, continues to release a mixture of extraordinary songwriting and melodic experiment. This new album is no exception. Fantastic.' - David Quantick. 'It's wonderful. Am still playing it and formulating my thoughts. It's astonishing and that's a genuine compliment as I initially approached it with natural scepticism.' - Robert Cochrane/Culture Catch 'An extraordinary piece.' - Robert Rotifer/FM4 Radio 'Loving the new music. Amazing how it works as a single song and yet a whole album simultaneously!' - Charles Donovan/Rock 'n' Reel Magazine No doubt a challenge, but in the end, a rewarding one!