I would say that we are now halfway through making the new album, probably over halfway in fact… More rehearsals this month, and then another batch of recording with Brian at Bark in March… I am also finishing a few of the sparser tunes at home, so we should then have a decent batch to choose from for the album. So far we have steered clear of the temptation of over-arching concepts , although a couple of “recurring threads” are certainly becoming apparent…

It is satisfying to be recording as a band in a studio again, as the last couple of albums have been made in different ways in different places. I like both manners of working, but it is nice to be playing together in a traditional studio environment again – I especially enjoy doing the guitars this way, as you can crank up the amps and make a racket… Brian is really fast to work with so it all seems quite immediate… So far so good!

So I shall tempt fate and say that the album will definitely be out this year. It still seems likely that it will be a Shirley Lee album, but it is actually a real band project – all of Spearmint play on it, and there are no guests so far.

I write this on a cold clear night in London – a bright crescent moon in the sky and it is definitely time to dig out the scarf and winter coat. I like it. I am about to have a quiet evening in catching up on a few chores: doing the washing, arranging rehearsals, updating the accounts… or more likely putting off tackling the accounts…

Am intending to watching Evil Dead 2 later… I have no idea what this will be like as I have never seen any of them. I have been catching up on some classic horror recently under the close supervision of my girl Bridie – Wolf Creek (fantastic), Dead End (very good), Jeepers Creepers (great start, rotten end), Halloween (dated but still great), Cabin Fever (rubbish) and The Descent (unwatchably bad).

I can heartily recommend some films from this year, as it is turning out to be a golden year at the movies, yes? It seems to me that these are all classics: Science Of Sleep, After The Wedding, Simpsons, Kenny, Conversations With Other Women, Hairspray, Michael Clayton, Two Days In Paris, Bourne Ultimatum, Half Nelson, The Bothersome Man, Zodiac, Dark Horse, Orchestra Seats and Last King Of Scotland…

Spearmint-wise, we went into Bark Studios in Walthamstow earlier this month and recorded a couple of songs with Brian O’Shaughnessy, really just to see how we liked it. It turned out to be thoroughly enjoyable; both tunes came out well, though one needs a new mix… Hence we are going to return there to do the bulk of the album. People are busy the next few weeks, so we are rehearsing in December, then recording in January. As ever, that seems like ages away, but I know it will fly
round…

The way the writing is going, it looks like being quite a personal album, so we have had conversations about it being a Shirley Lee album, rather than Spearmint. Not sure whether it will end up like that or not – either way, all the guys will be involved in making it as usual. I am looking forward to us doing some more songs with Brian!

Jim has started work on the artwork for the Best Of – he showed me some good sketches the other night… Not sure whether it will come out before or after the new album.