Black says of the song: “That was my attempt to write a song like The Boys Are Back In Town by Thin Lizzy”, even though the song’s lyrics, “All I want to do is play you Northern Soul records, while you’re lying next to me until late in the night”, suggest a different inspiration.
“It’s a shame really, because we first played it live in 2013 and then the film Northern Soul came out so everyone will think I’m copying that, but I’m not”, says Black. “The truth is, I’m not even a massive Northern Soul fan. My special subject on Mastermind is the complete works of Gorky’s Zygotic Mynci. But one night, my wife and I listened to Blowing Up My Mind by The Exciters, and I decided to write a song about it. Any references in the song, like [legendary Northern Soul mecca] Wigan Casino, are a product of Wikipedia and Google”.
The song showcases the two main sentiments of The Boombox Ballads; the first been that this is Sweet Baboo’s naked attempt to emulate his heroes and secondly, that the resulting record reads as a love letter to a loved one.
On The Boombox Ballads, Sweet Baboo wanted to explore more what it was to be a ‘Singer’ as opposed to a ‘Singer Songwriter’, a term - that to him at least - seems to have picked up some negative connotations in recent years. With that in mind, there was a tentative channeling of Harry Nilsson and latter day Scott Walker (‘You Got Me Time Keeping’) in both his songwriting and by working with an arranger (Paul Jones) for the first time who helped him paint the most vivid accompaniments possible.
A native of the North Wales countryside, The Boombox Ballads follows Black’s Motorhome Songs EP, his 2013’s acclaimed Ships and 2010’s I’m A Dancer / Songs About Sleeping – both nominated for the Welsh Music Prize.
Sweet Baboo’s dry wit and melodic flair have seen him become a firm favourite with BBC 6Music’s Marc Riley (who has had him in session more than any other artist), and deservedly recognised as one of the country’s finest performers.
Following his spectacular show in London last month – where Stephen was joined by a string quartet and an all new band, Black has announced a full tour of the UK for autumn including London’s Bethnal Green Working Men’s Club.
