#67
Monday 22nd December 2014
The Lost Brothers - Little Angel
They say: "Little Angel" started for us seven years ago as a rough demo recorded in the attic of Mike Coykendall (M Ward, Bright Eyes) in Portland, Oregon. The song lived in our song drawer with the archives, until inspiration hit earlier this year while crossing the Irish Sea during a rocky winter storm. Out came the guitars and the remaining verses and choruses were written in one sitting.
To record the song we called up California native and former Eels collaborator Sean Coleman, now living in Dublin, and asked him to produce at Gavin Glass's Orphan Studios. "Musically we were thinking of Frank Sinatra having a twilight dinner with Phil Spector, with Gordon Lightfoot in the kitchen and Randy Newman serving the dishes, while Skyping with Nick Cave and Tom Waits. We like to think that The Lost Brothers brought their own sound along to the party too. We had always heard this Christmas sound in our minds and we thought it was time to lay it down. Being away on tour for so long with the new album this year, made us home sick for Omagh and Navan, so that's in there too"
Some of Dublin's stellar musicians were recruited to record the song with sessions featuring The Frames' Graham Hopkins on drums, Michael Buckley and Ronan Dooney from Glen Hansard's band arranging the brass, and bass played by Keith Duffy, with The Lost Brothers on vocals and guitars. A rich musical friendship lay at the roots of the recording, as The Lost Brothers has toured with some of these players across the US, when supporting Glen Hansard on tour. Merry Christmas!”
We Say: “Team ATL was lucky enough to catch the ‘losties’ at Other Voices recently and as ever, they delivered, with stunning harmonies, sweet guitars and a load of charm. It’s fitting that this song came together on the road, or on a boat in the middle of the Irish Sea actually, because the Lost Brothers conjure that sense of journey, of troubadours with guitars on their backs going from town to town, with their beautifully crafted songs.”
"Little Angel" is offered as a free download but the band ask that people make a donation to a children's charity of their choice this Christmas, or purchase the digital single from any good download stores with 100% of profit going to UNICEF.
