David Lance Callahan
David Lance Callahan — Former singer with C86, kingpins, The Wolfhounds and 90s sample-crazed ‘post-rock’ innovators Moonshake, David Lance Callahan has also toured and collaborated with PJ Harvey, Stereolab and My Bloody Valentine, and played Over the last few years, he has pursued a well-received solo career, writing and performing spooked social commentary as part of his sui generis vision, accompanied by his unique guitar style. His two solo LPs so far – English Primitive I and II – have seamlessly mixed folk, blues, West African, Arabic and post-punk influences to produce a distinctive blend that could only exist in the 21st Century. The lyrics, for which he is equally renowned, hold their own next to the Blake and Auden poems he has also set to music.
His recently released LP – Down to the Marshes – adds a horn section, string quartet and musical saw to the recipe and was voted one of the best albums of the year by LouderThanWar and Juno Daily, as well as receiving rave reviews in Mojo and Record Collector.
“The year’s stand-out album for me” – Stewart Lee
“A sort of modern-day pastoral” – Simon Armitage (Poet Laureate)
“Arguably his generation’s best lyricist ... Callahan remains the great lost British frontman” – Martin Aston, Mojo
“So many stand out tracks that it sounds like a greatest hits set from a parallel universe.” – LouderThanWar
“Should be heard far and wide, printed on broadsheets across the land and used at the closedown of broadcasting every night” – Mickey Bradley (BBC Radio Ulster/The Undertones)
“Callahan is one of British pop’s unsung heroes – a harsh but humane social commentator to rank alongside Mark E Smith and Jarvis Cocker” – Andrew Perry, Select
