Same City - new album by Greg Fleming
Greg Fleming’s new album Same City thrives on the stuck-in-place, surreal reality most of us have experienced since March 2020.
It's an album that should take him from being an under-the-radar critic's fave, to a wider audience.
"The people in these songs are all at a sort of crisis point - returning to, or stuck in a city against their will. Life and time has done what it does to all of us, thrown them some curve-balls - that was a situation rich with potential."
Whether it's an errant daughter flying back to Auckland to see her dying mother (Lucille's Gotta Go Back Home), a man who glimpses an ex across a train platform (Same City), the reflections of an all-night Mobil gas station attendant (Gas, Coffee, Cigarettes and Gum) or a couple rediscovering their own city and their own connection in a locked-down Auckland (Tourists for a Day) - Fleming's acute eye cuts to the emotional essentials of a situation.
Fleming cites artists like Steve Earle, James McMurtry and Lou Reed as influences.
Fleming says that the heartbreaking title track, the electronic-led Same City, was one of the later tracks done - written when things - "from a lot of perspectives were, as the song says - "falling apart”."
"I sent a rough acoustic demo to producer Wayne Bell and he sent back this beautiful, pitch-perfect music bed."
The album was recorded, between various lockdowns, at Mt Eden's LAB studios.
"When I look back at the records we've made over the last eight years they seem to make sense as a whole. In fact I was surprised how well they linked together - I've followed these disparate characters through all these records and this seems like a summation of sorts."
Other highlights include the power-pop ache of Arrow and the one-take solo tracks, Heartbreak Business and 24 Hours to Midnight.
"These were done after we'd finished a day's tracking - things had been going well. I just went in with an acoustic guitar, sat down and played 'em."
The result is one of the most moving albums of the year, from one of New Zealand's finest songwriters. Listen to Same City below. To hear more from Greg Fleming, head over to the Songbroker Search Engine.
