COVENTRY Music Museum curator Pete Chambers BEM writes for the Observer.
Inflamed by Dean MacDonald
You will know the name Dean MacDonald as being the front man of The Session, a band that has been producing consistently good music for many years in the area.
Now, Dean is doing some of his own stuff, a solo project if you will. Never shy of approaching any subject, his new single is the hard hitting ‘Inflamed’ and is a power anthem in support of ‘Black Lives Matters’.
The song begins with a wondrous guitar riff and builds to superbly to a multi-layered soundscape with a barrage of hard-hitting lyrics as you would expect from a master songwriter like Dean – this is one of his finest compositions and I hope it gains the attention it really is due it.
I asked Dean some questions about this moment in time. So why this solo single?
He said: “Back at the start of the second lockdown I was left kicking my heels, the band had all their gigs and studio arrangements cancelled and I was a bit lost .
“At the very start, I just shut myself away from everything (apart from my three girls) and started to write – no TV, only long country winter walks with the wife and working on my music.
“I still didn’t have any real definite plans as such, but I knew that I needed to do something with my songs.
“I didn’t know at that point if I was going to save them for The Session or keep them aside, but what I did know was they were very personal, and the idea crossed my mind to keep them back for myself.
“It was not until Matt at 14 records phoned me up and we got chatting – I said I had been writing and he asked did I fancy doing collaboration on a track with him.
“I said yes I would love to do that, and I told him I would love to come over and record some other stuff that I had written in lockdown.
“Inflamed is a song I penned in anger about the negativity and hate towards the Black Lives Matter movement.
“I was disappointed and felt ashamed by some of the stuff I had heard and read.
“I went over to Leamington to 14 Records and things started to happen.
“Everything we have just recorded has been written and produced in lockdown so on reflection I suppose I’ve captured a little bit of myself during this second lockdown.
“How I was feeling, songs about the wife, songs about life, my kids, like a diary but to music.
“Apart from Matt the producer and the wife, it’s been a very solitary experience which I deliberately set out to do.
“I will stagger the releases throughout the year and around The Session as they must always come first, and we also have new band music to make as a band. but yes, I have a working title of Me, Myself and I for the album.
“It’s still about the individual songs as singles before putting that album out.”
Deans single is out out next Friday, May 21, on iTunes, Spotify, Apple, Deezer and tidal.
