JOHN CANNING YATES - The Quiet Portraits

£24.50

1. The Way I Remember It
2. In The Stillness Of The Night
3. Healing
4. Until You Find Me (Song For Margaret Hardman)
5. October Song
6. It Could Be So Good
7. Under Cobalt Skies
8. Life In A Different Time
9. Faraway Blues
10. Riches
11. Dreams Forgotten

How do you follow up a work described in the Independent on Sunday as “the best debut album since Marquee Moon”? That’s the question facing singer-songwriter John Canning Yates, twenty years on from the critically acclaimed ‘The First Album’ by his band Ella Guru.

It’s a welcome relief amid the rapidly changing musical landscape to find that all that has changed in John’s world is the number of musicians around him. The beautiful storytelling, the art of finding those magical musical moments that will remain with you for years to come: all of that has survived the passing of time intact.

Happiest with headphones on, working alone in the small hours from his Liverpool home, Yates has created another masterpiece.

John explains: “In the wee small hours, with loved ones safely asleep and the busy day done, there comes a hush. Within it, you can breathe and listen. Listen for the infinite possibilities. From those possibilities emerged these portraits. I have sought to find those precious moments: of love and peace in turbulent times, of truth and hope for calmer days ahead. I hope you find them too.”

Entitled ‘The Quiet Portraits’, the new solo album from John Canning Yates tells tales of people and places, of time, family, history, belonging, forgetting and remembering.

‘The Quiet Portraits’ will appeal to anyone who loves the beautiful melodic soundscapes woven by Brian Wilson, Burt Bacharach, and Tom Waits, while Yates’s unique vocals evoke the emotional fragility and compelling narrative of Neil Young, Paul Buchanan, Mark Linkous and Elliott Smith.

Mastered by Jason Mitchell (PJ Harvey, Robert Forster), and featuring guest contributions from pedal steel maestro BJ Cole and friend and multi-instrumentalist Andy Frizell (Kevin Ayers, Wizards of Twiddly), those dedicated followers of Ella Guru who stayed the path will find their patience very well rewarded. ‘The Quiet Portraits’ is a remarkable achievement from an unassuming, yet hugely talented artist.

Engineered, Produced and Mixed by John Canning Yates
Mastering by Jason Mitchell
Design by Pascal Blua
Photography by AP Yates

Released 19 April 2024

Quantity:

Add To Cart