AMERICANWR BALCH
Flying Meatloaf Records is pleased to announce its first Welsh-language release: Americanwr Balch. Released on March 29, 2024, the single is available for download and streaming through all major outlets.
“Americanwr Balch (Proud American, in English) is a tongue-in-cheek poke at typical American attitudes nowadays,” says Pawlie — a dual-citizen of the United Kingdom and the United States.
“After spending a month travelling around Wales last spring, I made lots of new friends and met like-minded people who shared my views on America’s troubling trajectory. I felt a connection with Wales almost immediately, and started wondering if Welsh listeners might enjoy hearing a Brit from California . . . take the piss out of America . . . in Welsh! I started working on Welsh lyrics to Proud American from my 2021 album and things fell into place. Hopefully people will chuckle and appreciate the tongue-in-cheek, sarcastic message. It’s not a patriotic song!”
Americanwr Balch is Pawlie’s first foray into Welsh-language songwriting. “I received my UK passport, and below British Passport it said Pasbort Prydeinig,” recalls Pawlie. “I realized that Welsh is the only official UK language other than English, so I decided to start learning. It’s an amazing language for singing, and Welsh culture places a very high value on music, poetry, literature, and the arts — so I realized early on that I had to have a go!
Co-produced with Thom Flowers (Steve Perry, The Ataris), Americanwr Balch features Jake Hayden (Nick Carter, Dorothy, Beth Ditto) on drums, Dean Dinning (Toad the Wet Sprocket) on bass and organ, Mike Keneally (Zappa, Vai, Satriani) on lead guitar, and Roger Joseph Manning Jr. (Jellyfish, Beck) on piano and synthesizer. Pawlie plays acoustic and electric rhythm guitars and sings lead and backing vocals on the track. Americanwr Balch was mixed by Thom Flowers at Hi-Volt Sound in Santa Barbara and mastered in Wales by Gethin John at by Hafod Mastering. The single’s artwork was created by San Diego-based painter and visual artist Igor Koutsenko.
Pawlie hopes to start work on a music video for Americanwr Balch in the summer.
An ape’s progress
Pawlie's fourth album, An Ape’s Progress, features ten new songs built around one central theme: Homo sapiens (the “ape”) and its ongoing struggle to survive and evolve here on its home planet. The album's title is a play on words from William Hogarth's eighteenth-century painting series, A Rake’s Progress.
A modern-day re-imagining of Hogarth’s cautionary tale, the songs on An Ape’s Progress touch on subjects that challenge us to this day: nationalism (Proud American), greed (Nickel and Dime), the environment (Opposable Thumb, Ship of Fools), faith (Man in the Sky), optimism (All’s Right with the World), and self-reflection (The Fool, Smile, All for Nothing). The album’s closing track, Crazy Crow (for Joni), is a tribute to the great Joni Mitchell — a musical and lyrical tip of the hat, with a special painting in honor of Ms. Mitchell included as part of the album’s artwork.
Co-produced with Santa Barbara producer/mixer extraordinaire Thom Flowers (Steve Perry, The Ataris), An Ape’s Progress features an all-star cast of musicians. Instrumental tracks were recorded in the summer and fall of 2020, with each player working in isolation at his/her home studio and delivering tracks via internet. Vocals were recorded during the winter of 2020, with mixing and mastering completed in the spring of 2021.
An Ape’s Progress was performed by: Pawlie (vocals, acoustic & electric guitars, percussion, synth), Jake Hayden (drums), Dean Dinning (bass, organ), Mike Keneally (electric guitar, Rhodes, Wurlitzer), Roger Joseph Manning, Jr. (piano, accordion, synth), Dallas Kruse (string arrangement, Rhodes, synth), Allen Hinds (electric guitar), Travis Carlton (bass), Lyle Workman (electric guitar), Alastair Greene (resonator guitar), Angus Cooke (cello), Libby Patten (backing vocals), and Michal Patten (backing vocals). The album was mixed by Thom Flowers at Hi-Volt Sound in Goleta, California, and mastered by Adam Ayan at Gateway Mastering in Portland, Maine.
In the concept-album tradition, An Ape’s Progress also features spectacular artwork. A series of thirteen acrylic paintings was created specially for the album by brilliant visual artist Igor Koutsenko. In addition to the haunting cover image, Koutsenko created a unique illustration for each song, as well as a surreal Pawlie portrait. All artwork appears in the downloadable album’s PDF booklet — but shines most brightly in the 24-page printed booklet included with the deluxe-edition CD!
An Ape’s Progress was released August 13, 2021 on Flying Meatloaf Records.