Songs From The Vine: This collection of songs was written in 2021-2022. They document life between 2020 and 2022 in Cambridge UK and were fully written and recorded in Rome. As a collection they have moments of a latin feel, as well as trying out some different arrangement formats – all of which are from within a more mainstream area than the first two Penguinos albums.
Making this album was a way of exploring themes of escapism as an escape from some the frustrations I found living in Rome at the time. The title refers to Vinery Road – a street I lived on in a house share for around 6 years, where the songs were written and demoed.
This is the album where I feel that the songs went up a notch - I experimented more with fiction, and character songs - takingreal events or thoughts or themes as a jumping off point and expanding them - letting them grow into things. This is where the songs fully became a body of work for its own sake - less therapy and more art - I was more detached from the songs. I approached them more as a producer than the author and for this reason I think they are a better collection of songs. The ego started to die.
Find the lyrics and stories behind the songs below: