FIFTY3FRIDAYS: SOCIAL DISTANCING FOR TREES
- 3 hours ago
- 5 min read
OK, so why the stock photo of a canopy of trees with the tops keeping their distance from one another? Could this be a form of social distancing for trees? You’ll find an answer in our third song featured below. Coincidentally I was looking up old editions of this column and came across my A-Z of Self Isolation from May 2020; an excruciating piece of comic writing in response to which Private Eye kindly said “Sorry not to publish.”
Anyhow do click on the A-Z link above should you wish to revisit the days of social distancing and all that. There’s a nice pic of our cat Merlin hiding in a laurel tree which is not showing any signs of crown shyness illustrating the piece too. You may also be heartened to hear that according to Google’s AI, a specific A-Z of self isolation does not exist on fifty3.net – maybe a few more clicks and the AI bot might find it.
On with the show…
We begin with the burgeoning talents of Alex Hall aka City Limits, a regular in these columns over past years. Such is his versatility that you never know quite what to expect next from the singer-songwriter-producer and musical maestro who swopped his home town of Bournemouth for the leafy suburbs of Surbiton a while back. His songwriting canon continues to grow and spans the post-rock grandeur of “The Pear Tree” to the romantic lyricism of “If We Should Ever Talk Again” and rolling nostalgia of “Pterodactyl” to quote just three.
We can only hope that one day Alex will achieve the mainstream recognition and rewards he rightly deserves. Meanwhile he continues to put out stellar material as a fully independent artist. Alex describes “Missing Piece” as “the first in a bold new wave of EDM-tinged releases for 2026” and the song certainly hits that sweet spot. There is no conventional chorus; indeed, the song title really plays that role alongside tempo uplifts. Alex has somehow managed to marry a kind of lyrical self-assessment with instrumentation that is hallmarked by a joyful lightness of touch, readying you for a comparative burst of euphoria in the trumpet-led coda. Marvellous!
JJ Lovegrove (Judi) is an artist new to me, discovered through Fresh On The Net and Neil March’s excellent Trust The Doc radio show. Nottingham-based, she is described as “an independent conceptual artist specialising in dark dream pop and art pop.” Judi has a design background and the design discipline, allied to a keen imagination, seems to be infused in her music. Her attention to small yet significant details shines through. There is equally a rich cinematic quality to her music, evidenced by her 2023 debut LP, The Lines We Leave Behind. You can hear this too on her latest work, “Celandine”, taken from Judi’s follow-up album, History Is The Struggle Of Becoming, out on 29 May.
The upcoming record is inspired by and created in response to the life and work of local literary hero, D.H. Lawrence, some 140 years after his birth. Judi sets out to examine aspects of Lawrence’s female characters and pair them with her own lived experiences as a female artist in Nottingham today. “Celandine” takes its title from the yellow spring flowers that Lawrence portrayed as "scalloped splashes of gold" in his novel, Sons and Lovers. This distinct, sensory connection with nature is carried through Judi’s song and expressed as a deep love escaping Lawrence-like family and social expectations. I love the way this song builds in mantra fashion from ambient reflections to full-on intensity, as Judi’s soaring vocals arch over an explosive soundscape; music both to lose and find yourself in.
Photo of Sennen & Danielle, about-faces by Josephine Best
The old adage that you learn something new every day rings true once more when you are confronted by a song title you need to Google. I’m talking here about “Crown Shyness”, the new single from Leeds indie rock outfit, about-faces. The title refers to tree behaviour where the outermost branches at the top of trees shy away from each other creating gaps which can resemble a jigsaw puzzle. Originally operating as a five-piece, the band’s lead guitarist left in the summer and a close friend of cousins Sennen Ludman and Danielle Capstick who front about-faces has been sitting in both on recordings and live.
“Crown Shyness” hits the ground running with an overdriven rock guitar intro before settling into brisk acoustic guitar with urgency underpinned by punching drums and bass. The songwriter’s attention meanwhile shifts upwards to the top of trees and into the sky mirroring the anxiety in the lyrics. Sennen’s edgy vocal adds to the disquiet while Danielle contributes softer unison touches and harmonies. It all gets a bit mysterious lyrically as a “45 shot gun” and braille communication enter into play. After an anthemic peak, there is an interesting coda to complete the song; a breakdown followed by a guitar phrase that sounds like it is recorded backwards. A fascinating song and you can catch about-faces live at its headline show at Hyde Park Book Club, Leeds on 18 April.
Fresh On The Net is now taking an Easter break but after we signed off with the latest Fresh Faves, the mods all had the chance to pick two tracks each which had not made the Listening Post via the Alt Picks feature. Here are my two choices – disparate styles with something to say for themselves.
JOEJAS - WiiiZARD POOLS
London rapper and producer JoeJas aka HairyMuffinMan switches from mellow reflection to rapid, hard-hitting flow on this bouncing track from his Left Handed Bandit album. It’s a confident avowal to “keep that child like wonder raw”, to enjoy things that make you happy whether young or old. And to… keep dancing!
TERRY NAYLOR - HOLY WAR
Seasoned songwriter and musician Terry Naylor delivers an anti-war song with steely intent, building from a sombre piano ballad opening and moving through some interesting modulations before lyrical guitar adds embellishment. Musically there is a bit of a mid-period Genesis feel to things while Terry’s protagonist in the song is seen as both perpetrator and victim in the futility of war.
FIFTY3 FRIDAYS SPOTIFY PLAYLIST MARCH 2026
Should I be blessed with any, regular readers will know that upon the first Friday of each month, I publish a Playlist on Spotify which reprises all the songs featured in this column over the previous month – all in order, if you’d like to check.
Our Fifty3 Fridays Spotify Playlist March 2026 includes 22 songs from the month’s Fifty3 Fridays beginning with the beguiling “I Don’t Know” by Dear People and concluding with “Arabella” from the wonderful debit album from Roswell Road. Just the one substitution this month; James Hodder’s “I Don’t Know How To Quit” is not on Spotify so the splendid “Wilderness Road” has come off the bench instead.
If you are feeling at an aural loose end, you’ll find 76 of these Playlists on my Spotify page so please follow me @TonyHardy53, make a brew and give the latest one a spin.
