- 2023-01-23
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MUSIC
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Donate to support families affected by the crisis in Ukraine ➔ Rhys Lewis Releases New Album “Corner Of The Sky”: Streaming
British singer-songwriter Rhys Lewis released his sophomore album “Corner Of The Sky” on January 20, 2023.
It is his first album in three years since the 2020 debut album “Things I Chose to Remember”.
The album comprises 13-track, produced by Aidan Glover and Rhys Lewis.
When looking for his very own “Corner of the Sky”, he found that he connected with a generation that needed to run, regardless of destination - a shared sense of uncertainty about what the future holds and the need to escape.
Rhys Lewis said of the album, “Music has always been a destination for me, a space to explore my thoughts and emotions. So naturally, this album became somewhere I could escape to - a place in which I felt free to wonder, question, and create. I feel like I've grown up a lot whilst writing this record, which feels funny to say at 30. The window of time I wrote this album in was uniquely challenging and perspective-shifting. It gave me a completely different view of my life, from which I've learnt a lot about myself and how I see the world around me.”- Rhys Lewis Shared on social media, “Whilst writing it, this album began to feel like destination, a place I could take my thoughts and emotions and distill them into songs. In that time, I turned 30, fell in love, had an existential crisis and decided to leave the city I'd called home for the past 10 years. A lot of feelings to process, lots of which live on this record somewhere. So I hope you find something here that moves you, or comforts you, or reminds of someone you love, or makes you want to dance on your own, or inspires you to take a leap of faith.”
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Rhys Lewis explained of some tracks for the album.
“Alone”
“As incredible as it was to become so close to a group of people so quickly, the experience also made me appreciate the importance of time alone…. I'd started to feel a little claustrophobic. When I got home [from tour] we were just going into what ended up being a 3-month-long lockdown. I spent that period of isolation with friends and although I was glad I had company throughout those months, the conditions we were all forced into began to feel similarly claustrophobic. The lyrics I'd started…whilst on tour suddenly felt relevant to this moment, so I carried on working on the song.
The writing process felt like a form of escapism in itself, picturing so vividly the moment of solitude I was craving at the time. We're always so connected, constantly in communication with each other, that the idea of disappearing for a while sometimes seems almost impossible to me, and for that reason exciting. There's something quite thrilling and invigorating about being truly alone, away from everything and everyone. So I hope this song makes people seek out a moment of solitude for themselves.”
“Midnight”
“When I started to think about a video for the song, the 80s aesthetic and lyrical melodrama conjured in my head the image of a group of superheroes. In all the superhero stories we know and love, ordinary people can suddenly become extraordinary.
To me, [the song] 'Midnight' is pure escapism. The day before I wrote this song, someone asked me when I might be able to start gigging again. The thought of playing live to a room full of people genuinely gave me goosebumps. I was keen to have a track with that kind of energy, something that would feel incredible to sing with a crowd. This is the song that I wanted to play live for the first time in a sweaty venue, with a sweaty band, just like old times.”
“Simple”
“Simple, one of my favourite songs on the next album. I wrote this song with the wonderful Jon Maguire one afternoon in London. It's about the way love puts things in perspective. Life can seem complicated and confusing, but around the people or person you love it's very simple. Anxieties evaporate, frustrations are forgotten, questions are answered. Go give it a listen, I hope it makes you all soppy and sentimental about someone x”
“The Middle”
“'The Middle' was inspired a breakup I went through a few years ago. We both coped with it very differently. It seemed to hit me harder and I had a tougher time moving on. When we met up again months later, I was still hoping we might get back together, but during our conversation she told me she'd met someone new. I remember trying to be happy for her. One thing I love most about songwriting is that it let's you turn a sadness into something others might find comfort in. So if you've ever been through something similar, I hope this song can be a friend.”
“To Be Alive”
“Around the time I wrote this song, I realized I'd been letting my anxieties have too much of a say in where I was heading in life. Every time I had an urge to do something new and scary, my fears talked me out of it. I felt like I was just coasting, stuck on autopilot, afraid to commit to a leap of faith. Then at some point, I don't know when, the fear of change was outweighed by the need for it, and I decided to jump.”
“Happy Fucking Birthday”
“Happy Fucking Birthday to me. It's about turning 29 and dwelling on all the things I wished I'd done in my twenties, then getting over it. It's a journey, from self-pity to celebration.”
“Centre of the Universe”
“One of my favourite moments from the new album. I wrote this song about how grounding and profound love can be, and the sense of purpose and meaning that comes from being connected to someone else. I wanted to depict love as a force of nature, a kind of gravity, that has the power to send your life into a completely different orbit.” - source : Apple Music
