Billy Lockett marks Things Are Looking Up release with HMV performance and signing
Singer-songwriter Billy Lockett has marked the release of his new album Things Are Looking Up with a hometown in-store performance and signing session at HMV.
Fans queued to meet the musician and watch him perform at the record shop in the Grosvenor Centre on Saturday afternoon.
Things Are Looking Up is the follow-up to Lockett’s 2023 debut Abington Grove and features the previously released singles Out Of The Blue, Corner Stone and the record’s title track.
In the week running up to the album’s release, the Northampton musician performed two gigs at London’s Royal Albert Hall – opening for Italian singer-songwriter Zucchero Fornaciari – and has also been on a headline tour across the UK.
Talking about the album, Lockett said: “The album is the best thing I’ve ever done. “Obviously, I have to say that, but it really is and it feels very much me because I made the whole thing, so it's extremely personal.
“I’ve never known any music I've made this well, this really feels like it's so authentically myself.”
The record has seen Lockett pivot from largely piano led ballads to a wider range of sounds.
The album cover pictures Lockett sat next to a guitar and the instrument’s sound runs through the album.
“This is a kinda change really,” he explains. “I’m trying to grow and evolve and I feel like so many artists get told they need to stick in one lane and so I'm kinda thinking I wanted to do something completely different.
“Shout out to Alden, my guitar endorsement. It’s a very guitar-led album. I think there's only two or three piano songs on it.
“I wrote most of them on guitar, even some of the piano songs I wrote on the guitar and then brought to the piano.”
In the run up to the album’s release, Lockett has been posting across his social media platforms, providing fans a honest and realistic insight into the life of a professional musician.
In videos, he has been joined by his mother who has been revealing the number of people pre-ordering his album and buying tickets for his recent tour.
Lockett has been commended by fans in comments for his openness and willingness to do this.
Talking about the videos, Lockett said: “Everybody told me not to do it, one of my managers thought I was crazy for doing it but I kind of just felt like every time I got a pushback on it, it kind of made me think, ‘Oh maybe I'm onto something here because it's creating an emotion’.
“It’s also honest and transparent and I think the industry needs more of that and it's helped my career.
“The whole ‘fake it till you make it’ thing is so dated. More people just need to tell the truth.”
Things Are Looking Up is available on black and coloured variants of vinyl, CD and digitally. For more information, visit https://billylockett.com
----- Billy gave the Chron a run down of each track on his new album.
1, OUT OF THE BLUE
“Out Of The Blue is a love story all about meeting the love of your life and kind of just having that first night with them, where it's all a bit of a whirlwind. It's slow, it’s chill, it’s a ballad. It's one of the only ballads on the album.”
2, THINGS ARE LOOKING UP
“This is the title track, it’s fun, it’s rocky, I’ve re-recorded it about six times. It's about my dad and about how he's always kind of looking down on me, especially when things are going well.”
3, HELL YEAH
“Hell yeah is about when you’re questioning your relationship and you're kind of thinking if it's not a ‘hell yeah’, it's a ‘hell no’ and the idea of if it's not perfect, it's not right.”
4, LIGHT UP THE SKY
“This is another song about my dad, about kind of hoping that he's okay wherever he is.”
5, CORNERSTONE
“Cornerstone is another love song, but it's almost about telling somebody that you struggle to actually show love but deep down you do really care. It’s actually about two of my best mates.”
6, SWEET TOOTH
“Another love song - just involving food basically. Everything about food. It’s fun, it’s different from every other song on the album. It's a lot poppier and a bit quirky.”
7, SKY DIVING
“Probably the most country song on the album, a very good driving song. It’s all about the idea of when you feel like everything's going perfectly and then suddenly it takes a nosedive. It's my mum's favourite.”
8, MASTERPLAN
“This is an upbeat fun song all about telling somebody that they are your world. It’s probably a fan favourite live.”
9, CUT ME OFF
“Cut Me Off was the first song I wrote for the album. It’s a ballad about trying to tell somebody to break up with you because you aren't strong enough to do it yourself, but you know that they're bad for you. It’s a feature with Northants Sings Out choir and they literally make the song and make it sound this massive.”
10, WE KNOW
“This is quite a sexual song really, it’s all about having a no strings attached relationship with somebody and that you both kind of know what's going on.”
11, BETTER THIS WAY
“Better This Way is a breakup song about trying to break up with someone and explain that it's not their fault. ‘It’s me not you’. That kind of thing. It’s a ballad, but a kind of guitar ballad. The only guitar ballad on the album.”
12, OUR FUNERAL
“This is a bit of a rocky song, it's very Radiohead-ey, there’s a big chorus, it's my favourite on the album. It's got a massive amazing guitar solo by Mat Day and it's all about my ex and kind of saying, ‘I'm pretending I'm okay but I'm actually deep down sort of dying inside.”