Camping in the Rain EP

The final part of the 2020 trilogy of Cult Figures EPs is now unveiled - with a new album to follow soon. The Camping In the Rain EP was recorded and mixed at Woodbine Street Studios in Leamington Spa, just prior to lockdown.

Progressing from their 2018 album – The 166 Ploughs A Lonely Furrow – which consisted of new recordings of tracks from 1979/80, these latest EPs present Cult Figures writing and arranging very much in the present – with the familiar sound of pop, punk, psychedelia – and a touch of melancholy.

Jon Hodgson recounts the story of "Camping In The Rain" – a holiday nightmare…..

"While on a camping holiday in northern Spain my family and I were caught in a torrential downpour, which refused to let up for several days. The unexpectedly abject weather conditions seemed more typical of Bognor Regis than the Costa Verde and after a night and a day of unrelenting rain, my wife and kids could stand it no longer, abandoned the tent and checked into a hotel. Perversely, I stayed on at the campsite in the forlorn hope that come tomorrow the sunshine might return. Throughout that long, miserable night, I lay huddled in my soggy sleeping bag, while a deluge hammered down and the walls of the tent were buffeted by the storm. Oddly inspired by the wretchedness of the circumstances, I took out my note pad and by torch light scrawled a poem, the words to which eventually became the lyrics to this song. Next morning I awoke at dawn, unzipped the waterlogged tent and peered out, only to be greeted by yet more low cloud and drizzle. I got up, packed away the tent for the very last time and joined my family for breakfast in the hotel. We haven't been camping since."

Jon explains – cryptically – the lyrics of "Exile"…..

"Nothing lasts forever and every man will eventually have his day. Sentiments that can sometimes bring a little comfort to a discontented population, bearing the brunt of a corrupt leadership. "Exile" imagines a day in the not too distant future, when the game is finally up and the despot is forced to leave office. And what is the identity of this disgraced manipulator? You decide."

Gary Jones reminisces in "Concrete And Glass"…..

"Concrete and glass is simple nostalgia for the old Soho and London's West End.
Tin Pan Alley, Italian 'Pepsi cafes' where you could get egg and chips or a plate of pasta, frothy coffee in a glass cup, or a robust house red.
Warm summer nights hanging out in Soho Square smoking and drinking and smooching.
Simpler times and lo-rise buildings!"