MF Tomlinson is releasing his new album We Are Still Wild Horses in January, and today he reveals “The End Of The Road”, following on from “A Cloud” and “Winter Time Blues”. It’s inspired by community in these most bleak of times, he explains:
“It’s about that feeling when you just can’t believe what’s in the news – how senseless and enraging it all is. You think: How is this all happening when everyone is up in arms about it? Where are the people like me and you? That is a very lonely feeling. When you do find yourself deep in a crowd of people resonating on the same idea you feel safe, almost like you’re being held – and you feel powerful.
“So this is a dream of that crowd, from isolation. Being in opposition of all of the shit that’s going on right now would seem to be an extremely unrewarding task – but yet somehow it’s not. Making generalisations is getting increasingly difficult (it’s one of the great things about our times) so it’s hard to put a finger on, but what I’m singing about, is our culture, our generation. I’m very proud to be a part of it. As well as being a protest song, this is a love letter to our culture.”
Tomlinson starts us off in Trafalgar Square where he has personally taken part in demonstrations in support of Black Lives Matter and Extinction Rebellion. Within that crowd he hears messages of disenfranchisement and warnings of the end of the world – but being among people who feel the same as him rouses the spirit inside. Musically, “The End Of The Road” follows the same course, starting as a forlorn piano ballad but then flickering to life as a solemn-yet-uplifting hymn filled with poignant pedal steel and gorgeous backing vocals. Tomlinson guides the song from Trafalgar Square to the Dorset festival End Of The Road, where the protesters all come to join together in the fight for the future of society and the planet – even if it kills them. It’s a deeply moving finale, speckled with horns and hope, that deserves to be sung out at any communal gathering of those campaigning for what is right and just.
The video for “The End Of The Road” is the next chapter in Tomlinson and director/choreographer Daisy JT Smith’s ambitious visual accompaniment to We Are Still Wild Horses. Check it out below or find the song on streamers.
We Are Still Wild Horses is out on Feburary 17 through PRAH Recordings (pre-order). You can find MF Tomlinson on Facebook, Twitter and Instagram.
