Hi all,
        Apologies for the lack of bloggery action of late, I've been knee deep in several different preoccupations, including moving house, my various duties as an expectant father, reading some superb literature, booking an extensive tour for 2010 and writing the followup to 'Nine Cents From Benelux'.

Moving house was an epic activity, as it always with.  I've settled, for now, with my fiancée in Bridport, a small town on the Jurassic Coast in Dorset, which is not only a beautiful place to be, but is also something of an artists' colony, with plenty of songwriters, visual artists, poets, authors and performance artists plying their trade in the locality.

It's proved to be a really invigorating creative experience to leave behind the stultifying air and automobile noise of Bournemouth behind, and head for somewhere quieter, brighter and cleaner.



I've finally been able to sit down and fully take into consideration what has happened in my life in the last two years.  Both personally and artistically I've experienced a huge evolutionary process, gaining wisdom and a few scars along the way.  It's inevitable that when you're travelling at such speed, you clip a wall or two along the way.  Still, life is good and I think a lot of the narrow gaps I travelled through at such velocity are evident in the writing for my next record.

I'm writing all the time at the moment, more so than I have been since the writing cycle for 'I'm Alive' in '05/'06.  The new material is a lot more personal and less storytelling than the 'Nine Cents...' songs, and I think it's shaping up to be the most challenging record I've made yet.
 
I'm not interested in concessions or compromise this time, I'm keen to make a great record which is either loved or hated. I have no problem with dividing opinion, I think it's healthy to do so sometimes.

Don't get too excited, though...the new album won't be along until Summer 2010. Maybe even later if it's not 100% perfect by that point.  I'll keep you posted.



I've been reading some brilliant books recently.  In particular I've been reading one of very few Kerouac novels I haven't enjoyed before-'Doctor Sax'.  Fantastic stuff, as you would expect.  Also, I have found deep joy within Haruki Murakami's 'Hard Boiled Wonderland and The End Of The World'.  I've been a big fan of Murakami's deep, clear, still and deeply Kafka-esque writing for a long time, in fact since reading his seminal 'Norwegian Wood' years ago, but hadn't discovered 'Hard Boiled...' until my friend, and superb singer/songwriter, Matt Marr lent me the book a while ago. 

Thanks, Matt...I really appreciate it.  I know I've had the book for a while, and will get it back to you asap!


I am also pleased to announce that I'm going to be playing an extensive UK tour in 2010, starting in mid March, which will initially be a triple-header tour with two friends of mine-and great artists-Alex Hall and Terry Emm.

We'll be visiting a lot of new venues and also playing in a lot of the places which I played with The Mercurymen, and also visited with Marcus Bonfanti and Lotte Mullan this year.

I can't wait to get back on the road, see everyone again, make new friends and play you all my new songs (and plenty of "ol' faithful" numbers from my back catalogue!).


I will blog again soon, but in the meantime take care of yourselves and keep supporting live music!

Jinder x