Maddox Jones ready for the release of debut LP Believe It

Two years on from his first EP as a solo artist, Maddox Jones will release his debut album Believe It in April.

The Northampton native, who recently moved to Scotland, will be returning to play an album launch show at The Black Prince next Friday.

Since establishing himself as a solo artist, Maddox Jones has released numerous singles, but Believe It will be the musicians first album since 2005’s Dirty Words, when he fronted The Departure.

Talking about the pending arrival of the record, he said: “It feels great, there’s definitely something special about getting a body of work together.

“This record gives a great idea to listeners of who I am as an artist so I’m excited to get it out there.

“I’m really proud of it and actually it’s made me think more in terms of albums now.

“Getting here has had its difficult moments but also I’ve been blessed with working with some wonderful people who have kept the process interesting and exciting.

“I just have to keep going, I’ve still got the same hunger as I had when I was in The Departure.”

After The Departure disbanded, Maddox Jones was involved in numerous different projects and collaborations including Newislands, Strangers and Born Stranger, releasing numerous singles.

Maddox Jones has been working on Believe It for the last 18 months, with long-time collaborators David Crawford and Louis Souyave.

“I did a lot of the recording with Crawford at Plastic Tree Studios and then Louis added his magic and somewhere along the way we got a record finished,” he explains.

The CD version of the album will also feature four bonus tracks – previous singles Can’t Wait For The Summer, World’s Gone Mad, My House and No More Ghosts.

Talking about the record, Maddox Jones said: “My songs always start with me on the piano or guitar, chords, melody and lyrics, then I’ll take the song to Dave or Louis and flesh it out.

“The record has quite a varied sound in places but somehow feels very cohesive.

“There’s the heavy guitars of Power, the balladry of lost in the moment and the 80s vibe of Magic but because the songs are all written by me they feel like they belong on the same record.

“I’ve written about everything I’ve been through over the past couple of years.

“There’s love, heartbreak, spirituality, existential questioning and life affirming ballad type songs.

“The over-arching themes definitely deal with positivity and hope,

“I am a very positive person and the record is an honest account of me.”

Turning to his plans for the rest of the year, Maddox Jones said: “Hopefully the album is received well first and foremost, then I’ll be playing shows and I’m working on some collabs as well.

“It’ll be business as usual - trying to take over the world song by song.”

Maddox Jones headlines The Black Prince in Northampton on Friday, March 24.

Support is by Nikolas Gray, Viddy and the Spinadisc DJs.

Copies of Believe It will be available to buy on the night. Tickets cost £3 before fees via Skiddle.com.

For more information, visit http://www.radikal.com/artists/maddox-jonesTo mark the forthcoming release of his new album, Maddox Jones has done an exclusive track by track guide to Believe It:

Ready To Be Better

“I remember picking up my guitar New Year’s Even 2020 and I was in a place where I was pretty much sick of my own s***. I decided to write a song of exactly where I was at that time.

“I looked at the time on my phone took a deep breath and let the words pour out of me. ‘It’s a quarter past 3 on New Year’s Eve but it could be any day from the past few years I’m skating on ice, fighting my vices yeah.’

“I was partying too much and felt like I’d been pretty selfish in a lot of ways.

“It’s basically like an extrapolated version of waking up with a hangover saying ‘I’m never drinking again’.

“I felt like I’d let people down and I wanted to say sorry.

“I’ve been sitting on this song for a minute, but two years deep into Covid it feels relevant in a whole new way, I think we’re all ready to be better.”

Monsters

“This song was written late 2021 towards the end of the album writing process.

“I had had an energy healing session which brought up a lot of things from my past and I wrote monsters as a letter to my younger self.

“It’s warm and comforting and has a bit of a lullaby feel to it.”

Beautiful Soul

“This is a song about my ex girlfriend. The breakup really hurt.

“I was pretty broken at the start, however, after a few weeks had passed and I was starting to get over it, I could see more clearly that we probably weren’t right together.

“I was walking down the street and the melody and lyrics pretty much came to me all in one go.

“I ran the last bit of the way home and sat down at the piano.

“It’s in 3/4 timing which is pretty different for me, I’m usually a standard 4/4 kinda guy.

“The song is about coming to terms with a heartwrenching break up and sending love to the other person anyway.”

Magic

“This is a whimsical and epic love song about a powerful, magical girl who you can’t help but be in awe of.

“I was influenced by the solid songwriting of hall and Oates on this one as well as the Coldplay and Weeknd records, both of which tips their hats to the 80s in production and writing style.”

God Damn, I’m Happy

“A sweet and light-hearted love song. This one has an 80s soul vibe to the beat.

“I wrote this in about 10 minutes. It’s a bit tongue in cheek. The message is God Damn, is this it?

“Have I found the one? It’s kinda about that moment when you are romanticising a new relationship, picturing shared Netflix accounts and wondering if this is it.”

Somewhere There’s A Plan

“Written and produced alongside David Crawford, I wrote this song during full lockdown and I wanted to create a track that offered some joy and hope in among the uncertainty of everything that was going on.

“The track itself is influenced by the 70s style uplifting funk of The Brothers Johnson mixed with the more recent sound of Daft Punk and Caribou.

“The message is that no matter what you are going through just believe that ‘somewhere there’s a plan, believe it.’

“The track features some of my very good friends, Lewis Cardinal sits in on bass and guitar, while Christian Pinchbeck (Girlhood) on the saxophone gives the last chorus an epic lift.

“This song is a straight up party”

Big Brown Eyes

“Produced by Dave Crawford with some extra production by Louis Souyave, this one is a slow jam.

“This is about those times when you don’t feel so connected in a relationship and wanting to fix things.

“The lyric ‘even if we’re dancing all night long - is metaphor for arguing.

“It’s about wanting to get to the end of the argument and be stronger.”

Make Me Yours

“This is an intimate one, a bit dark and sexy.

“It’s about opening up to being vulnerable in relationships and letting someone hold you fully in those moments of surrender.”

How To Be Happy

“This is a dark one, there’s no denying. Sometimes we humans just want to experience the full spectrum of emotions, this song is about regret, sadness, doubt and fear.

“The chorus pleads for help, ‘does someone know how to be happy?’

“It’s thankfully not how I feel most of the time, but I think it’s the job of music to explore all kinds of feelings, express them as fully as possible.”

Power

“This is about subconscious beliefs and shadow work, making the unconscious conscious.

“Some say our deepest fears might actually be getting exactly what we want, rather than not getting it.

“How scary it would be to believe that I might actually be powerful like the wildest animal.”

Rightful Place

“I wrote this at 7.30am in the morning one day early in 2021.

“I was doing this practice called morning pages - you wake up and write three pages of whatever comes to mind, it’s meant to make you more creative.

“I was also listening to a lot of Taylor Swift’s Folklore album and going on long walks around that time.

“This song is about being committed to your hopes and dreams, it ends on the affirmation ‘I’ll never stop dreaming, I’ll never give in’.

“It’s one of those songs where the lyrics just came to me and I can’t really logically describe what they mean but it just works.”

Lost In The Moment

“This was written with my good friend Lewis Cardinal who also sings on the track.

“We had been doing a lot of acoustic live streams during the first lockdown to pass the time and connect with people while their was no opportunity to play live gigs.

“We wrote it over FaceTime in autumn 2020.

“The first describes a guy busking and how you can find beauty in the small things if you just simply look around and take it all in.

“This is a song about the joy of sharing these experiences with someone you love deeply, feeling present and in the moment, ‘lost in the moment with someone who’s feeling it too’.”