Chris Lewington
The U.K.’s talented singer-songwriter, Chris Lewington uses a tried and tested technique when he composes a song; he calls it “classic songwriting.” The result is an eclectic array of music built on a foundation of styles from the late 60s and 70s. While at times Lewington’s work seem almost “Beatle-esque,” at other times, one can hear a myriad of other influences he masterfully mixes into his compositions. Indeed, there’s an inherently timeless feel within the songs of Chris Lewington.
Chris Lewington has been a musician since his early teens when he first picked up the guitar. His first love was not pop or rock music but movie themes and his earliest musical heroes were the likes of Ennio Morricone and John Barry. Later in his teens, listening to the singer- songwriters of the time he started to write songs. “It struck me how someone like Paul Simon or Leonard Cohen could wrap complex themes of love, life and existence up in just a 3 or 4 minute tune with a timeless melody”
Ready for the stage Chris Lewington started his first band, called The Silence, in the early 80s and released his first singles, “A Car in Denmark” and “The Hangman’s Beautiful Daughter,” The Silence also feature alongside the likes of Julian Cope on the the cult compilation, “A Splash of Colour”, that followed the early 80’s psychedelic revival.
By the mid-eighties Chris had formed The Bicycle Thieves, which had a similar style to REM and Lloyd Cole. With The Bicycle Thieves, Lewington penned the singles “Ghostdance” and “Louise,” both of which received airplay on Radio 1. “Louise” would go on to win the 1989 TDK Songwriter Award.
Another single, “Waterfront” received a lot of airplay and some notice on the UK Charts. Chris also got the chance to work with the renowned producer Tony Visconti during this period.
In the early 90s, Chris returned to his singer- songwriter roots as he started a new project called The Famous Blue Raincoats, a folky acoustic style band that performed in smaller sized venues in and around London. A compilation album of their work is available now on streaming sites. During the 90s and 2000s, Lewington concentrated on writing new material to pitch to publishers.
It was not until 2018 that Chris set aside time to finally release his first official full- length album as a solo artist. “Technology had advanced to the point that you could make decent recordings for release using just a laptop and recording in your own home”. Hence the title of the album, Landells Road, named after the street where it was recorded, and as a sort of homage to The Beatles’ Abbey Road. The retro amalgam of stylistic sounds found on Landells Road reflects Lewington’s love of classic artists such as The Beatles, Love and Scott Walker as well as contempories like Bon Iver, Calexico and First Aid Kit
“The Man Who Saved The World” was released as a single for the start of 2020. There's a 60's West coast flavour to the track with hints of Jefferson Airplane. The song tells the story of Stanislav Petrov the Russian colonel during the 80’s cold war whose quick thinking averted a nuclear holocaust when he ignored early warning alerts of incoming US missiles. A man who literally saved the world.
The album “Riverside" was released on the 10th August 2020. Like Landells Road the album is entirely produced and performed by Chris using just a laptop in a bed room. The title is again after the road in which he lives. This time there is perhaps a more pastoral feel to the album now that Chris has moved to the countryside by the river. There is a very English feel to much of the record including songs about the PreRapaelites and a setting of a Rupert Brookes poem. There is also more of a 70's singer songwriter sound to many of the tracks. But still that classic and timeless songwriting feel through all 11 new tracks. .
In 2022 Chris continues to record and release music with singles Colour Her Gone, You Better Go Your Own Way, Tears From A Loaded Gun, Small Neck and It's Going To Be Okay on release and available to stream on on all digital platforms. The New album "Starfish Memories" released August 26th features 11 tracks that reflect the world we live in from songs about personal relationships to war in Ukraine, COVID and COP 26. Imediate hooks and singalong chorus's combine with more intimate ballads to create a strong and powerful new record from one of Britain's leading recording artists.