Scottish songwriter Mike Clerk, former frontman of The Lost Generation has released his debut solo album on 26 March.
The alternative album centres around themes of mental health and self-reassurance after being written during the harrowing lockdown. It brings a burst of energy to 2021 and has reawakened the fan base he no longer knew existed with debut single ‘Thoughts Of Fools’.
‘Good For Me’ opens up the album with an odd mixture of sounds. The eerie intro develops into a synth fuelled rhythm with unexpectedly soft vocals. It is a head-turner of an opening track but not necessarily for the right reasons.
Mike really gets into his stride as the album progresses with bouncing tracks like ‘Thoughts of Fools’ before progressing on to ‘The Air In Here’. It is a thought-provoking track which finds him struggling with his inner demons while attempting to tackle issues of mental health and addiction. It is a much smoother track than others, but this matches the tone of the song perfectly.
The middle of the album definitely embraces more of a sombre, slow paced tone with tracks like ‘Come Down With Me’ and ‘You When You’ before injecting some life back in to the mix with ‘So Bizarre’. The general feel of this album is that it is quite laid back, but in a way that Mike is quietly confident in his capabilities. He doesn’t stray from the sound that he knows works for him, and this gives the album its authentic feeling. It is unfiltered and packed with raw-emotion, if you want realness look no further!