Singled Out: Barry Hyde (The Futureheads)

The Futureheads frontman Barry Hyde is gearing up for his debut London show next month in support of his new album "Malody" and to celebrate we asked him to tell us about his new single "Thunder Song". Here is the story:

Thunder Song is without a doubt the song I have written with the most gradual and longwinded completion, I started it in 2009 and it's only just come out. It took five years to finish writing it, which is quite impressive for a song that only has three chords played in the same order for it's duration.

It began when I downloaded an app for my smartphone that was based around making loops of various lengths using samples. I became pretty hooked on it and became quite experimental and was able to use it as a highly versatile musical instrument that was possible to use in any key and in any scale. The handy (and a little bit sneaky) thing was you could selected specific notes and all of the notes you didn't want to use were switched off meaning that it was impossible to play a duff note. One of the loops I was particularly pleased with eventually became Thunder Song but for a very long time it existed as an instrumental loop consisting of two trumpets and three double basses. Strange choice really. I knew there was 'something' about it because everyone I showed was genuinely impressed (I can tell when people aren't), one was even moved to tears. It lived with me and one day I started singing over it and improvised a few lines. I just sang words that I felt would fit the mood of the loop and that was it. So then the song existed without changing for another two years.

In that time I developed chronic mental health problems and in the middle of a deep depression that was becoming life threatening I finished the lyrics whilst in the bath. It was an early winters night with a thick cover of clouds, drizzle and fog. At this point I was pretty much entirely detached from the world around me and was extremely ill. I guess occasionally I momentarily bypassed the depression and had brief moments of creativity and respite from the feeling of being crushed and ground down to nothing. I found that during these times the music that would result had a certain powerful, arresting quality. That being said, I never want to experience feeling like that again and thankfully creativity doesn't have to come at such a heavy cost.

Shortly after finishing the song I was hospitalised in a psychiatric ward for almost three months. Whilst in there I forgot about everything I had ever done, including Thunder Song and other compositions that later become this album. Part of my recovery was slowly remembering myself until eventually I was able to return to life and in many ways begin again, at doing what I did before but with a new appreciation of the process. When I perform it I go back to 2012 in my mind and think about the key moments that defined that part of my life and I find the knowledge I have survived fills me with heavy emotions dominated by joy. I have come in to the possession of a large kettle drum and in combination with a cymbal it brings a dramatic and slightly terrifying end to the live show by joining the brass section as they almost expire from creating volume levels that could raise Atlantis.

Hearing is believing. Now that you know the story behind the song, listen for yourself here and learn more about the new album and Barry's upcoming solo show right here!

Barry Hyde Music, DVDs, Books and more Barry Hyde T-shirts and Posters More Barry Hyde News Share this article Related Stories � Singled Out: Barry Hyde (The Futureheads) � The Futureheads' Barry Hyde Streams Song For New Solo Album More Stories for Barry Hyde Barry Hyde Music