Archive Tag: phil thornalley

20 Feb 2024

See the animated lyric video for Phil Thornalley’s Shipwrecked Love

Phil explains: “Whilst improvising on my old piano one day i found a cool repeating motif and, to me, it suggested the ebb and flow of a rising tide. Shit got sea faring dude!”

After a while i found the lyrics to suit the simple melody. The words that came to me felt impressionistic rather than literal and i soon had a song about disintegrating romance. But not a sea shanty. No fair isle sweaters or captain birds eye beards. More the spirit of Robinson Crusoe rather than rock and roll cruise ship.

With the help of Karl, a string bass player, we created this minimal orchestral arrangement mirroring the pulsing piano. Added some vocoder harmonies to the singer’s plaintive plea. And a touch of flute.

Then, drum roll please, my collaborator, ac (head at record company lojinx) created this wonderful lyric video with, perhaps, a french impressionist feel.

Cascading warm, natural colours and sweeping brush strokes. Like Van Gogh on vacation.

As source material he used a film i had made on a beach holiday in January. then he added my scrawled handwriting that somehow became a wannabe Cezanne’s delicate touch. Pretty remarkable eh?

And that’s the salty sea tale of how a sad song became this visual feast.

“and so begins, the journey’s end”

Disclaimer: no fish were battered in the making of this video.

Phil Thornalley - Holly Would album

The 3-track Shipwrecked Love EP is out now. Pre-order the album Holly Would now for release on March 29th.


<< lojinx blog
26 Jan 2024

Ahoy! Naval gazing!

For lovers of metaphorical maritime melancholy comes melodic ballad Shipwrecked Love, the second song and EP from Phil Thornalley’s forthcoming album Holly Would.

Swirling piano, chopping cellos, fluttering flute and vocoder voices embrace the singer’s siren song of a love on the rocks. One-man orchestra Karl McComas-Reichl layers accompaniment of Thornalley’s string arrangement.

Over the years, as a formally untrained musician, I have been drawn to the emotion that strings can bring to a song. I suppose I’ve been diligent in studying how to arrange with years in the studio seeing other top pop arrangers at work. Del Newman, Paul Buckmaster, George Fenton, Charles Blackwell and Sal Herbert have all written arrangements for recordings I was producing, writing or engineering. With the power of modern string sample libraries it’s possible for me to sketch an authentic arrangement and then convert that into a score for the players, who can overdub themselves from their home studios, bringing their beautiful craft to colour my probably laughable scratchings. Karl records in California and sends the results to me in West Hampstead.

Phil Thornalley 2024

Once I’d decided on shipwrecked as the theme it felt good, the lyrics seemed to come naturally. Sometimes it’s difficult to tell a story in so few lines but they fell into place quickly.

Riding the waves of the title track the EP includes two non-album tracks with simpler productions. The late era Beatle-ish Could You Be Loved and the hybrid acoustic ballad Too Many Goodbyes.

Throughout my career, whilst trying to write, possibly contrive , ‘hit’ songs for other artists, I’ve had many other songs fall into my lap, from the sky into my hands. I started collecting these ‘found’ songs from the last few years for an album of perhaps more introspective feel; keeping them less arranged, looser in playing style and even more naturally ‘me’. I love singing harmony vocals and enjoyed the intertwining coda of Too Many Goodbyes. I suppose they are more singer-songwriter songs rather than singer-with-a-full-band blasting away.

Having shelved the idea of a niche album from an admittedly already niche artist, I felt I wanted to still share them anyway. It’s a natural reflection of the way I feel my way through a song just strumming and humming with my guitar . I realise later the unconscious influence of The Beatles, solo Macca and even Weezer”.

Shipwrecked Love is the only ballad on the Holly Would album, so the tone of this EP doesn’t reflect the sound of the album overall. But with the abundance of songs pouring out of Thornalley in recent years it seemed a shame for them to go unheard and natural to group these tracks into a melancholic set.

Sometimes writing songs is like a surfer catching a wave: you struggle to get past the breakers but once you get the right energy it can be a beautiful, graceful ride to the shore”.

Phil Thornalley - Holly Would album

The 3-track Shipwrecked Love EP is out now. Pre-order the album Holly Would now for release on March 29th.


<< lojinx blog
01 Dec 2023

Ten strummers strumming, three drummers drumming and a dash of kitsch in a major key.

Phil Thornalley has always been a fan of Christmas, and lucky enough to have enjoyed the childhood family gatherings, “I had a million uncles and aunts, most of whom smoked cigs or made delicious trifles”.

Like most songwriters, Thornalley has regularly rejoiced in capturing the Christmas magic by the recognised music industry tradition of choosing the hottest day in august to set the mood.

Songwriting pal Mads Hauge (his co-writer on Pixie Lott number one “Mama Do” and “Boys and Girls” and the top five christmas tune “Cry me out”) got together to attempt an ascent on the Christmas charts with the opening gambit “How would you like to write the next Christmas number one?”.

So here we are – Christmas Lights – with lyrics playing on the darker side of Christmas, beyond the mince pies, the indulgences and the ritually enforced gaiety. Exploring the duality of the cash-drain and hangovers of most family festive get-togethers, whilst the tree lights innocently sparkle in the corner.

Following a star with my credit card, tryin’ to buy a heart or two

And what’s a Christmas record without being overcooked in the Phil Spector oven? All the cliches: jingle bells, ten guitar players, ascending strings, glockenspiel & the kitchen sink.

The Christmas Lights EP takes one song from the forthcoming album – of which more news soon – but the 3 other tracks are exclusive to the festive EP.

We Lived Like Kings rocks out while sustaining the Christmas theme, though Thornalley admits “I have no idea what the lyrics ‘we were like three wise men with a pocketful of zen’ is about

Holy Cow, whilst referring to a bovine member of the nativity scene, is in fact a timely protest song disguised in a Santa hat. Maybe the lyrics ‘you made the rules, now you break them’ is a clue.

Not Now Carol, though mentioning another Christmas cliché, is in fact about a friendly, but slightly rogue, neighbour “someone who turns up at inopportune moments. Based on an anecdote by co-writer Mads Hague, about his own street”.

Christmas lights, a king, a cow and a carol.

Festive indeed.

Phil Thornalley’s “Christmas Lights” EP is out now, accompanied by a slightly sinister animated AI-driven lyric video.


<< lojinx blog
06 Jan 2023

effective, affectionate and beautifully craftedMojo

epic pop… string-led symphonic melodies and multi-tracked harmonies of ELOUncut

Imagine Jeff Lynne with his ELO and Tom Petty hats on and you’ll get the gistDaily Express

Proof that a good melody never goes out of styleClassic Pop Magazine

Taken from Phil Thornalley’s glorious new solo album “Now That I Have Your Attention” is the new video for “Solid Gold Sunshine”. The raucous 70s glam stomp is brought to summer-soaked visual life by Neil MacKenzie Matthews’ (Paul McCartney, The Beach Boys) bonkers playschool-on-acid video.

Wanna’ beat those winter blues? Bin that new year hangover? Why not take a long refreshing sip on some ‘Solid Gold Sunshine’, my new summer cocktail, out today. Recorded during the UK’s heat wave last year, a sunburst swagger of seventies flavoured glam rock hot enough to melt any ice bomb.

…and don’t forget to enter the “Now That I Have Your Attention” competition:

Q: Just how did we make this video?

Please let me know! The prize? What all my competition winners get… my very best wishes!

Solid Gold Sunshine” is out now and includes non-album b-side exclusive track “America”. The acclaimed Phil Thornalley solo album “Now That I Have Your Attention” is also out now.

Join Phil on social media:

https://www.instagram.com/philthornalley/
https://www.facebook.com/PhilThornalleyMusic/


<< lojinx blog
29 Jul 2022

A quick scan of the many records Phil Thornalley has worked on, and you’ll quickly spot some of the biggest names in popular music, including Bryan Adams, Thompson Twins, The Cure, Psychedelic Furs, XTC, Duran Duran, and even Paul McCartney. Phil co-wrote and produced Natalie Imbruglia’s 1997 worldwide smash “Torn,” and has written hits with Pixie Lott (“Mama Do”) and BBMak (“Back Here”). A kind of rock’n’roll Zelig, his name is probably on countless records in your collection, although you probably didn’t even know it was him. That bass line on The Cure’s “Love Cats”? That’s Phil. The haunting and ethereal production on Prefab Sprout’s “When Love Breaks Down”? That’s Phil too.

Now, on his latest offering, Now That I Have Your Attention, Phil Thornalley steps out of The Swamp (his North London studio) to unveil 11 catchy and brand-new original songs (plus three bonus tracks on the CD!) that find him exploring the production stylings pioneered by the Electric Light Orchestra’s Brummie boffin, Jeff Lynne.

Phil Thornalley's album Now That I Have Your Attention, on Lojinx

Thornalley celebrates the fine musicality and pure joy of Lynne’s widescreen symphonic string sections, the bare-faced brutality of his straight-ahead rhythm bed tracks, and plenty of multi-tracked and stacked harmony vocals. On tracks like “Stand By Love,” and “High On Your Supply,” Thornalley makes more than a passing nod towards Lynne’s carefully layered sonic tableau, from the multiple acoustic guitars to the highly specific electric guitar lines.

Clearly, it’s a sound that Thornalley can’t get out of his head.

Maybe we should have called it the Traveling Phil-burys,” Thornalley jokes, “but I enjoyed the earlier ELO records, and the way they married a crummy beat combo with the grandeur of a full orchestra – it was over-the-top but infectiously musical, creating a foundation of the oxymoronic ‘controlled’ rock and roll drums and a super simple bass guitar.

Phil Thornalley (credit: Neil Mackenzie Matthews)

Why, you may well ask, would a lauded and Grammy-nominated songwriter and producer (and the focus of a recent in-depth career retrospective story in the American trade magazine, Tape Op) decide to record an album with both feet planted haphazardly in the squelch of the seventies sounds of ELO and glam rock?

Because it’s fun.

When I listen to pop radio these days,” says Phil Thornalley, “no one seems to be having any fun. In my teenage years, every other record you heard was ridiculous. I think that sense of fun is missing from today’s often turgid, doleful would-be soul singers moaning about their millionaire ennui.

It’s worth noting that this is a true solo album, and while Thornalley had some vital assistance from Jimmy Hogarth (on “Hell Bent On Compromise” and “High On Your Supply”), the string arrangements of Sally Herbert, Thornalley was solely responsible for the lion’s share of what he calls the “strumming, banging, plucking, crashing, bashing, and warbling,” on the record, writing all the songs, producing, and engineering the whole thing.

I’ve been gifted a certain talent for rudimentary playing of the pop instruments such as bass, drums, guitar and piano. I understand musical arrangements from making records for other people through the decades, so I can hear what I want and gravitate towards achieving it. I’ve even tried some cello and some Dylan-like harmonica on ‘High On Your Supply.’” And while I like to think I have an ear for scoring an approximate string arrangement, I gladly handed over my ideas to Sally who plays viola and violin, and Ian Burdge who plays cello. Sal finesses the score, adds slurs and unexpected effects, and then they track that up at their home studio.

Thornalley played a bar room “tack” piano over a doubled string quartet, arranged by Herbert, and little else to achieve a McCartney-esque melancholy on what is arguably the album’s most poignant song, “Bluer Than A Bluebird” over which a simple lyric wallows in the sadness of a misguided, one-sided love affair. “The strings,” laughs Thornalley, “especially the cellos, really pile on the agony.

The more delicate flowers amongst you might be taken aback by the overt drug-analogies in songs like “Heaven In A Hash Pipe,” and “High On Your Supply,” but again, Thornalley says it’s all in good, tongue-in-cheek fun.

Phil Thornalley (credit: Neil Mackenzie Matthews)

The actual message of ‘Heaven…’ is that I don’t think you’ll find true happiness in losing your mind,” says Thornalley, “while ‘High On Your Supply’ is about dealing in love addiction.

Thornalley considers the glam rock shuffle of “Solid Gold Sunshine,” with its unsubtle blend of a seventies groove and teenage feel-good melody, to be something of an outlier on the album.

I tried to marry some elements from my old record collection,” says Thornalley. “The big bludgeon-like Moog synthesizer of ‘Jet’ by Wings, or the fuzzbox slide guitar frenzy of Joe Walsh. There’s a certain type of guitar riff that was ubiquitous in ‘70s pop but is now relatively unheard, yet it somehow fits on my album. While the galloping rock of “One Night In America” evokes thoughts of Neil Diamond singing ‘Xanadu.’

As a gifted and chart proven producer in his own right, Thornalley calls upon decades of experience in the pop trenches, daubing sonic textures like paint on an aural canvas.

I particularly enjoy finding different rooms in my house to record in,” says Thornalley. “I rarely use reverb, but I do like to place a microphone at the far end of a corridor to find the right tonal perspective for the drums or particularly the background vocals. I like the natural feel of call and response on a chorus and the natural colours available in my studio – just by pointing the mic at the ceiling not at the singer – can create pockets of unique, blended tone. I was trained in the studio by the man with the golden ears, Mickie Most, an uber-pop producer with a telepathic sense of what the record buying public wanted, and always with an ear for the melodic, funky or just plain catchy.

Phil Thornalley deserves your attention.

Lead single ‘Fast Car’ is out now (Apple | Spotify | Deezer). Pre-order the album direct HERE or request it at your local record store.


<< lojinx blog
24 Sep 2021

Happy Release Day to Astral Drive’s 2nd self-titled album!! Out now on CD & digital, the ‘orange album’ perfectly captures the world-class talent of Mr Phil Thornalley at his absolute best. Tune in to Astral Drive on Facebook for live stream event tonight! (24th Sept @ 10pm UK / 5pm EST).

It’s been three years since Astral Drive’s debut release and the bar been raised with this new eleven song follow-up, heavy with soulful harmony vocals, heartfelt singing, lush chords and uplifting star-gazing lyrical themes.

The, again, self-titled album is out now CD and digital: CD & Tee Bundle | Spotify | Apple | Tidal.

Buy the CD (with bonus tracks) & exclusive merch direct from us and if you want it on vinyl, let us know! We’d love to make it happen.

Astral Drive - Phil Thornalley

Follow Astral Drive & Phil Thornalley on social media:

facebook.com/astraldrive
facebook.com/philthornalleymusic
instagram.com/philthornalley


<< lojinx blog
30 Jul 2021

It’s been three years since Astral Drive’s debut release and now Phil Thornalley has raised the bar with a new eleven song follow-up, heavy with soulful harmony vocals, heartfelt singing, lush chords and uplifting star-gazing lyrical themes.

Ahead of the ‘official’ CD release in September, the self-titled album is out now on all good digital services.

LJX125 Astral Drive
CD & Tee Bundle | Spotify | Apple | Tidal

Pre-order the bonus tracks CD & exclusive merch and get your high res digital download direct from us or stream wherever you prefer.  And if you want it on vinyl, let us know! We’d love to make it happen.


<< lojinx blog
27 Feb 2021

Following last months release of the Waterlilies single, Astral Drive follow up today with new track “For The Dreamers”

Phil Thornalley, aka Astral Drive, explains: “In January I stumbled on a simple guitar riff, hummed along and two minutes later it had morphed into a melody for a complete song. I e-mailed the idea to my friend Shelly Peiken in LA, she added her lyrical magic and the recording just flowed naturally from there.

Back in the 70s, when i worked at RAK Records, songs would be recorded by the artist and released two weeks later so I’m excited that this tune was written and recorded with that elan.


<< lojinx blog
28 Jan 2021

Phil Thornalley continues his quixotic adventures into 70s inspired aural delights with a new batch of Astral Drive songs for 2021, written and recorded throughout 2020.

Temporarily exiled from his London studio, Phil made the most of what was to hand. With one piano (ex 10CC), one tiny beginner’s drum kit, one unloved bass, a battered acoustic guitar and one very nice old microphone, Phil set to work on his Macbook.

I was able to record in my re-purposed garage in the Suffolk countryside. Luckily, the week before lockdown it had been insulated but not from the smells of the pig farm next door!

The songs were mostly conceived and half-written on long bike rides through the ‘mighty hills of Suffolk’. An avalanche of major and minor seventh chords, heartfelt vocals and soul searching lyrics all topped off with swathes of sonic sunshine.

The first single, Water Lilies, is out now:

Sadness and loss cast a shadow during the lockdown which added an extra emotional dimension to the songs. “While my creative default is to hunt down happiness in music a couple of the songs naturally became reflections on immortality” the artist mused.

With writing contributions from Gregg Alexander, Shelly Peiken and David Munday (Astral Drive guitarist on live shows) it’s not an entirely solo affair. Additionally, Boo Hewerdine made his mark:

I asked Boo to write me a song on the theme of ’Star Gazing’… so literally, he did! The next day I had a scratchy piano demo from Boo with some distant singing and beautiful lyrics about fame and failure. He gave me carte blanche to shoot his song into astral orbit.

The final album tracklist is yet to be decided but guest contributions so far come from some familiar names to those who read the debut album liner notes: Kasim Sulton on backing vocals, Keith Scott on lead guitar, Mickey Curry on drums and Gary Breit on keyboards all sending in parts from their respective home studios . Phil’s still hoping his old mate Bryan might join the dream team.

He’s offered to play some guitar or drums from his studio in Vancouver but right now is busy working on his next album, hunting down his own dreams.

Superstar mixer Dave Bascombe returns to pull the whole thing together with a vibrant punchy balance to compliment Phil’s production.


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