Drawing Shapes
Track 1. ‘Work’
“My Dad got made redundant,” says Matthew of the EP’s blustering opening track. “He was in IT and he took a year out after he had quite a bad accident, and then he came back and the
business had completely moved on so he got completely left behind. He didn’t know what any of the new gear was, it had all changed in a massive leap. He was being interviewed by people 20 years younger than him, that sort of thing just pisses
me off. ”
Told as a series of three conversations, the song demonstrates Matthew’s talent of blowing the personal up to signify the universal. “It’s not directly about my Dad losing his job, but things
moving on and being left behind.”
Track 2. ‘Hold Your Breath’
The newest song on ‘Drawing Shapes’, was again inspired by Matthew’s horror at the things that happen to people in the name of industry; a quiet protest song; at the same time a call for calm.
“I used to work in the hospital nursing. You’d see students and doctors who were doing 70 hour weeks,” he says. “The doctor’s in front of the nurse; there’s this big hierarchy thing which people are supposed to
observe, but one day this doctor just burst into tears on me and said ‘I haven’t slept in three days, I don’t know what I’m doing.’ That song’s about people who work too hard; take a breath…”
Track 3. ‘It’s Not Like Everyone’s My Friend’
On first listen, ‘It’s Not Like Everyone’s My Friend’ is a straightforward cry of alienation set against a riff big enough to fell trees. But there’s more going on here than
complaint rock, as the bruising, oak-heavy sentiment of the chorus in counterbalanced by the song’s beautiful outro, an extra layer of depth and feeling that will come to be Morning Runners’ trademark. “There’s a moment at
the end that makes sense of the rest of the song; people comment on the angst of it, but the part at the end takes away that feeling. The end is supposed to be beautiful because you’re relaxing in the fact that; everybody’s flawed. The
verses are pretty much a love song. “I actually find the fact that everyone’s not my friend liberating. Isolation can be the most peaceful place to be.”
It’s that wonder and amazement for the human condition; and concern for life in all its forms, that mark Morning Runner out as a band with substance and soul.
The band play their first ever headline tour across the UK in May before heading out on the road with Coldplay. Dates are as follows;
May 2005
Sun 1st King Tuts, Glasgow
Mon 2nd The Cluny, Newcastle
Tue 3rd Barfly Loft, Liverpool
Thu 5th The Roadhouse, Manchester
Fri 6th The Sugarmill, Stoke
Sat 7th Faversham, Leeds
Mon 9th Bar Academy, Birmingham
Tue 10th The Zodiac, Oxford
Wed 11th The Fez Club, Reading
Thu 12th 100 Club, London
Sat 14th Moles, Bath
Sun 15th The Cavern, Exeter
Mon 18th Joiners, Southampton
Tue 19 th Little Civic, Wolverhampton
Wed 20 th Soundhaus, Northampton
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