A few people have asked what the woodwind instrument is in Return Of The Sun, particularly at the end.
In 2018 while working on the song, I was also writing the score for the BBC1 feature documentary Grenfell, directed by Ben Anthony.
The film really brings out the fact that the Grenfell disaster was a consequence of conscious corporate neglect; ‘managed decline’ in public housing, presided over by elected Council officials. Attending the silent marches in London was a powerful and sobering experience.
Two pieces in the score feature woodwind player, Nick Moss, on bass clarinet, with layers of arpeggios building with delay and distortion into a kind of howl:
So I wrote a part with a similar technique for Nick to play on Return Of The Sun - a gentler, less layered kind of howl, but still with the idea of the hollowing out of our public spaces, and the abandonment of people for profit, in our minds.
Thanks to Nick for his beautiful and powerful playing.
Some more thoughts on Return Of The Sun can be found here.
AP
