These Brittle Bones (the musical project of young Welsh artist/producer Chris Jones) has burst back on the scene with moving new track ‘England’, a song that reflects on modern life in the post-Brexit, end-of-pandemic country.
Delivering synthesised textures and heart-beating percussion, ‘England’ is an entrancing single that encompasses beautiful crossover ambient and classical beats, alongside a captivating music video directed and filmed by Marco Beyermann.
Discussing both the single and the video, Jones explains: “I wrote ‘England’ very shortly after the 2019 General Election, in response to an enormous feeling of political failure and a decisive signal for the future of the country. The vision of England outlined in public rhetoric was increasingly at odds with what I was seeing on the streets of London and I wrote the song expressing a sense of dismay at this progressively insular direction of travel. I wanted to write a melody critiquing an image of England as a place of rolling hills with pleasant pastures green, imbued with a sense of nostalgic distance suggestive of the utter ridiculousness of this idea moving into the 2020s. The song’s rolling melody and slow tempo were written with an eye to evoking a sense of yearning for an impossible ideal, creating a sense of pathos for those left behind in the very attempt. The visuals for the song brought out this idea more explicitly. It began with a very simple concept: following a neutral observer as they walk through a pastoral, country scene reminiscent of this mythical England, continuously juxtaposed with the same observer seeing the shortcomings of this idea in an urban environment. This continuous contrast between the two scenes is meant to evoke a sense of the true divisions in this country: the competing visions of politicians and its inhabitants and the stark differences between appearance and reality.”
With millions of streams across his tracks, and support from the many Spotify editorials and tastemakers, this is a talent to keep a close eye on.
Listen to ‘England’ here:
