MF Tomlinson‘s debut album Strange Time is just a few weeks away from release, and following on from the recent psych extravaganza “Them Apples” he’s delivered one final teaser before we hear the full thing. “A Long Day” is a missive from deep in lockdown brain, with Tomlinson saying:
“I feel like it [A Long Day] takes me on a journey from the beginning of a normal day to the end of the day. It doesn’t really have a chorus – it kind of flows in quite a cyclical way, so by the time I hit the last notes I feel like it’s transported me personally through all the experiences that directly inspired the song. It essentially deals with the big and the small things that exist in our everyday mundane experiences – no matter how significant or insignificant they might appear at the time – how it all feeds into our concept of memory and the idea of ‘living in the moment’.”
In essence, “A Long Day” is a song as simple as its premise: a jaunt through the repetitive days of lockdown, trying to maintain an equanimous mindset and inquisitive nature despite the drudgery. Naturally though, Tomlinson spirals out from the quotidian observations like “at the end of a long day / begins another day” (who hasn’t felt that countless times over this last year?) to more poetic imagery, such as what he sees on journey to and from his day job at a bakery: “the ghosts there encounter a struggling artist / tipping the bums and the pigeons with rye.” He also ventures deeper into more cerebral thoughts about our undying yearning for more “at the edges of a conversation / your fantasy may be fed.” Instrumentally, “A Long Day” mirrors this, as it has a core of folky acoustic guitar, but flourishes into vibrant life with the addition of dazzling flute, crackling brass and crystalline synths, all of which carry Tomlinson’s thoughts and wishes far afield, to a life after lockdown when the world is open once more.
MF Tomlinson’s debut album Strange Time comes out on April 9 (pre-order/save). You can find him on Facebook, Twitter and Instagram.
