I’m a bit out of touch with music charts. Long gone are the days when I would study the data in Smash Hits; when I’d know who was ‘this week’s highest climber’ in advance of the now disgraced Radio One DJ telling me on Top Of The Pops.
I had absolutely no idea that an act I once wrote about in 2014 (here) had now had a bona-fide number one album. I knew that the career of Ward Thomas had taken an upward trajectory but I had no sense how much. I don’t hate it when my friends become successful. Well done Catherine and Lizzy.
I’d love to claim that I was there at the start of their journey and that it was my blog post that helped them on their way. But, clearly it wasn’t. This is down to hard work on their part, enthusiastic Radio 2 support and a sprinkling of promotional activity from their record label. I saw them again at Brighton’s Great Escape in May 2015 and it was easy to see the progress since that night in the Italian restaurant.
Ward Thomas released a new video today to accompany their third single from the number one album, Cartwheels. This song, also called Cartwheels, will have some Sonic Breakfast readers sticking their fingers down their throats in general disgust. “Sean’s gone soft“, some might say with others arguing that it’s always been thus.
But I like this. The harmonies are fab and the arrangement exquisite. The song stands up to scrutiny as well. It’s a bit of a heart-wrencher, a lament of a lover who refuses to accept that a relationship has bitten the dust. The video’s full of artistic endeavour, ballet being the chosen dance form with which to express the pain of the withering love.
I never could cartwheel.
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