British musical maverick STEVEN BATTELLE today releases his brand new single ‘Apple Tree’ across all digital formats. Produced by Steven and Dan Weller (Enter Shikari), the track was written on trips to Norway, Germany and Switzerland before finally recording in New York – though 90% of the music was done by himself in hotel rooms, planes, trains and at his home in the UK. Despite ALL of the music on ‘Apple Tree’ being performed by Steven himself, he has definitely seen a new rekindling for his love for the guitar on these songs. The central spiralling, almost glam industrial riff that is the centre of this huge song, is almost a love not to his SG guitar.
https://open.spotify.com/album/0gsd0mOOPutCIUO2D0pTUl
‘The origin of the recording of the song came from a midnight walk round lake Geneva and just hearing that riff over and over in my mind. When I returned to my hotel I layered up a an offensive amount of guitars and those same guitar are what you hear on the finished record. I remember thinking a lot about the brutality that monotony can bring and so made the choice not to deviate from the relentlessness of the riff’
”Apple Tree’ is about not allowing a compromising thought to enter my mind. I sat for hours just staring at an Apple hanging from a tree over a frozen lake. Just watching and thinking about the patience of nature and how long it takes to grow something naturally and which as far as I could tell, would result in the Apple falling, cracking the thin ice and sinking to the bottom of the lake. The integrity of that journey resonated with me in the way I look at my music. I’d rather my music take the risk on the ice than compromise and be picked, chucked in a basket with thousands of identical apples and consumed with little thought.’
Having spent the last year or so expanding his song writing, geographically and genre, Steven made this track (and his whole second solo record – more info to come very soon) in upstate New York a mile away from the legendary Woodstock. He has also been writing music in both the States and in Berlin for a variety of musical acts.
‘I’ve also spent large amounts of time in Kansas City writing songs for some really amazing country artists. I’ve found that in country music the song and the art of songwriting is revered in a way that seems to have diminished elsewhere. Next stop is Los Angeles and Nashville in October for more writing.’
Live wise, Steven’s first and so far only headline show sold out months in advance but he has since not made any appearances (2000trees in 2017 aside), preferring to write and build a catalogue that as he says ‘warrants touring’
‘I felt huge pressure playing my first show with a new band around me after the reputation my old band built. I loved the show and it blew my mind that the majority of the audience had to take planes to the gig including fans flying in to London from as far away as Japan! Just mind blowing – Now I’m missing touring so much so I’ll definitely be playing shows in 2019, with two albums under my belt feels like I might be able to touch the 2 hour set lengths that LostAlone fans became used to!’