STUDIO ALBUM
Released 23rd May 2018
Different Stories was recorded to help fund the band's 2018 European tour. It features re-workings of material from the band's four studio albums in acoustic and stripped back arrangements, plus 'Technicolour Afterlife' - a recording of a lost track from the 230503 album.
'Technicolour Afterlife' was written by Robbie and I back in 2005 for what became the 230503 album, intended at the time as the title track. It was by far the most gentle song on what was already a fairly noisy and angry record, and it's subtle melancholy felt a little at odds with the direction the album was taking.
It was meant to finish the album, after 'The Collapse', but as 'Disinfected and Abused' swelled from 8 minutes to 12 minutes and on towards to 18 minutes, the space for Technicolour kind of just vanished. The concept also felt far more abrupt, ending the album after the realisation that the protagonist's recovery and eventual reuniting with his loved ones was all just a fantasy of his still-grieving sister. A song that detailed that grief seemed to dilute the record and we cut it and stuck it in the vault. At that point, Anubis only consisted of Robbie, Steve and I. It was sidelined before Dougie, Dean or Nick Antoinette joined the band.
The album was still due to be called Technicolour Afterlife right up until a few months before it's release, when Nick had the idea to change it. The right decision, I think. When this album came around, we had the opportunity to resurrect it and I for one think it has come out infinitely better than ever it could have in 2009 had we kept it. Rob re-arranged the lyrics so while it still ties in with his original style at the time, it has a bit more sophistication you'd come to expect from a decade of improvement at your craft.
The song, for me, was always the one most connected to my friend whose passing inspired the 230503 album. I'm writing this on the 15th anniversary of learning of his death and it still seems - all these years later - like such a desperately sad waste of such a promising young life. Most importantly serves to remind me how privileged I am to be in a position and have a platform where I'm able to mark his memory with a piece of music that still feels, even after so long away, incredibly raw and honest. 'Technicolour Afterlife' is the last thing I had left from that period that the public had not heard, and releasing it here almost feels in a way like I'm clearing out some form of baggage. Albeit with a great deal of love and respect.
The last, lamented goodbye from a friend.
DE - 230518