The Heavy Blinkers ‘In The Morning’

Some days are just bad days. It’s a fact, an inescapable truth, that sometimes you get out of bed and things simply don’t go your way. Whether your cat’s sick, you have a shit day at work, or you just wake up in a moody fog and spend the next 24 hours bumping into strangers, missing your buses, and dropping your lunch on the pavement; none of us are immune to the bad day, from prime ministers to street sweepers. Something I have noticed in the music industry, and the working world in general, is that we are particularly reluctant to admit to having a bad day, a bad week, or even a bad year. There’s a quiet sense of shame about feeling down – egos are fragile enough as it is in the music industry, and we often hide behind a facade of easy going optimism, even when things are really bad. We far too often disguise our feelings for fear of being called out as unprofessional, or being considered weak – an interesting dichotomy between us and the often artists we work with who portray their emotions through the medium of song. It’s no wonder that mental health issues are rife in the industry – we all work long hours, rarely take holiday, and often feel the need to be ‘on call’ when we do. So why do we do it? Why would anyone? The simple answer is because we love it. And why wouldn’t we? People dream of working in the music industry, and we are lucky to have the opportunity to combine our passion for music with our working life. For every bad day, there are ten good ones, days when your favourite artist agrees to an interview, a label campaign goes well, or you have a great time socialising with the people you work with. If we all took the time to talk about how we feel, once a day, with someone you love, a complete stranger, a therapist, or your cat (guilty), I’m sure the world would be a better place. That age old wisdom, that things alway seem better in the morning, rings true, and believe me, if you’ve been having a bad day today, you will wake up tomorrow feeling 100 times better (it also helps that tomorrow is the weekend – holla!). Anyway, in the spirit of everything being better in the morning, here is a slightly older than usual release for your ears; ‘In The Morning‘ is the stunning single from early 2000’s chamber pop band The Heavy Blinkers, taken from their album ‘The Night And I Are Still So Young‘. Why is this relevant you ask? Well it’s not exactly new, but the album is being re-released as a limited edition vinyl by Label Obscura – and I particularly love this track. Heavily influenced by the tight harmonies of The Beach Boys and the narrative songwriting style of The Beatles, the track is a brilliant example of when orchestral pop goes so, so right. Warm and all encompassing, this is a track you can truly get lost in – and it’s the perfect pick me up for a bad day. Enjoy.