HOWIE Payne, (aka Howard Eliott Payne) former frontman of The Stands plays The Joiners in Southampton on Wednesday October 25

It follows the release of his new single, ‘Some Believer, Sweet Dreamer’, the latest track to emerge from his long-awaited new album ‘Mountain’, to be released on October 27th on Full Stack Records.

The new album, The Stands’ frontman’s first since his 2009 Ethan Johns-produced debut ‘Bright Light Ballads’, contains the recent Radio X playlisted single ‘The Brightest Star’ plus new track ‘High Times’, available as an instant grat with album pre-orders from www.howiepayne.com

Speaking about the new single, Howie said; “I wrote ‘Some Believer, Sweet Dreamer’ walking around London. I wanted to write something that had a kind of epic-ness to it, like those great 60s/70’s songs by Neil Young, Nick Drake, Pink Floyd and all that. I had this chord someone had showed me, it’s in a tune by Love, a magnificent sounding chord. So I was playing around with that and came up with this little pattern that I thought was pretty cool. Over the next couple of days when I was was out and about, I had this pattern in mind and started to make up some words for it. I wasn’t really thinking about what or who it might be about, I just liked how the words sounded together. I mean, it’s probably me singing to me, you know, but it could be about anyone who’s moved around some, who’s chasing something, and I think we all feel like that sometimes."

‘Mountain’ was recorded at London’s State of The Ark Studios during the last week of July 2017 before being mixed and mastered in Los Angeles.

"I think 'Mountain' is my best record so far,” says Howie.“It’s got a mellow vibe but the songs are rooted in real life which gives it some weight and a bit of edge’.

“We recorded it in just four days, and pretty much live, during one of the hottest weeks of the year, and you can hear it in the sound, like the voltage is heavier, and the air is thicker in the silence between the instruments. Most of the tracks were recorded in just a few takes - we'd never played them together before but the band were just really on it. We'd run through a song once or twice, get the sounds up and then play it until we got a version that sparked. I did 'Bright Light Ballads' the same way and I really dug how after you do a take you can listen to the song right then, with the singing and everything. I've made records where I've built it up from a zillion parts, and it's cool, but I went at this one live because there's something different about the feel you get into the songs when everyone’s playing and singing at the same time, you know."

Howie Pane plays The Joiners on Wednesday. Tickets www.howiepayne.com