Debut single from James Owen Fender
James Owen Fender's new single, 'The Cloud', is out on October 4th on Plumpton Presents.
"The Cloud" is the debut single by James Owen Fender, and is the product of some labour. From a squat in London to the studios of LA, there has been interest in Fender for some time. After teens spent fronting bands, Fender went solo in late 2007. He e-mailed his demo to Atlantic, and within five minutes was invited in for talks with their head of A+R.
3 days later, the tracks were played on Radio 1 - Steve Lamacq calling him “one to watch in 2008”. The next few months were a blur of meetings, which led to Fender signing with Island Records. They then let him hand pick his producer: brought up on a diet of punk-rock and lyricism, Fender chose Jerry Finn – the man behind breakthough records for Rancid, Bad Religion and Morrissey. This is where the bad luck began.
After the initial joy of being flown to East Hollywood and finding Beck working in the mixing suite next door, Fender laid down some tracks before flying home for a short break. Whilst in Leeds, Jerry Finn tragically passed away aged only 39.
"5108", which appears on this promo CD, is the last song Jerry worked on before he died. It also features the piano playing of Roger Manning, who played on Johnny Cash’s last record American Recordings IV, including the tracks Hurt and Personal Jesus.
With uncertainty over the album's completion, Fender toured with Cold War Kids, Cage The Elephant, and Manchester Orchestra. During this time, the president of Island who signed him, and who was also his A&R man, left the label to join EMI. Another attempt to record was plagued with more bad luck; so Fender returned home to Leeds to rethink his future.
He continued in his pursuit of personal productivity and in August 2009 set up a free entry club night in Leeds called Plumpton Presents to showcase exciting local bands / artists . Thus far, Dinosaur Pile Up, Spectrals, The Plight, Holy State, The Old Romantic Killer Band, WingMan, Grammatics, Wonderswan, Two Minute Noodles and more have played the night to packed venues. Off the back of the success of the club night, Fender set up a record label. Distributed by Warner Bros, Plumpton Presents Records has already put out a ltd edition compilation E.P, and release number 2 will be Fender's “The Cloud”.
“The Cloud" shows exactly why so many people zero in on Fender – like Jay Reatard playing Tired Of Sex, there is an irresistible sense of melody that permeates the material. Bright lyrics, in a Leeds accent, even thicker in speech, fixate over an organic, warm production that was, after all that, self produced and eventually perfected in the same squat as the very first demo. "The Cloud" is accompanied on this promo by “Everyday”, the song Lamacq played to start the buzz, and Jerry Finn produced "5108".
With the album now finished and mixed by James Kenosha (Pulled Apart By Horses, Dinosaur Pile Up), it'll be a frantic time for Fender when this single is released. And undoubtedly a frantic time for the public when they hear what they’ve been missing.
More information
For more information please contact James Parrish at james@prescriptionpr.co.uk or call 07758 216559.