Steve Simms and AJ Gilmore have been writing together in Northern Ireland for decades. Their early album, Melancholics Anonymous, was recorded in 2001, but neither felt it captured the sound they had imagined. Music kept pulling them back, and what started as an attempt to reimagine older material grew into a whole new run of songs. In their words, the pair had well and truly relapsed.
⇒ PRE-SAVE “SHOOT THE MESSENGER” NOW! ⇐
Now working as Rumour Den, with Simms on music, guitars, bass and arrangements and Gilmore on lyrics and lead vocals, they release “Shoot the Messenger” on October 30th. Running around four and a half minutes, it takes aim at the manipulation of truth: language twisted, inconvenient facts dismissed, and the person who speaks out made the target. The recurring line “Up is down if you control the words” sums up the idea.
This song is simply epic. It’s a theatrical rock song with an absolutely huge sound. Even if the lyrics weren’t good, this would still be one hell of a song, but the lyrics are actually incredible. The textures work together to create that huge wall of sound, from acoustic guitar to gospel-style backing vocals that flesh out the sound and have a great call and response dynamic with the main vocals.
⇒ PRE-SAVE “SHOOT THE MESSENGER” NOW! ⇐
The single was recorded at Einstein Studios in County Antrim with producer Frankie McClay and session drummer Eamon “Lenny” Lenehan. It’s one of the songs on Relapse, a twelve-track album the duo is conceiving as a complete listening experience, with vinyl, CD and cassette editions planned. Rumour Den are not pursuing live performances for now, choosing to put their energy into making the records they have always wanted to make. If this single is a fair sample, the album is worth keeping an eye on.
