In 2010, Luke Ritchie set himself a challenge - to write a song a week for six months. Between January and July, he composed 26 songs, recorded them at home on acoustic guitar and posted them online as podcasts.
By the time the experiment was over, through word of mouth alone, the songs had been downloaded 8500 times and Ritchie was ready to pick the best for an album he planned to put out himself.
Yet the route to the release of The Water’s Edge, Ritchie’s glorious debut and the parent album of new single ‘Butterfly’, isn’t quite so straightforward.
Before they reached the studio, the songs had found fans in globally acclaimed arranger Nico Muhly (Bjork, Anthony & The Johnsons, Grizzly Bear) and award-winning producer Paul Savage (Franz Ferdinand, Arab Strap, Mogwai). The former composed and recorded string parts for five of the tracks. The latter produced the entire album over two snowy weeks in Scotland.
The results led to a deal signed late last year with Angel Falls Records, a label founded by Venezuelan entrepreneur Rodrigo Márquez and distributed by Proper Music, home to artists including Robyn Hitchcock, Dr John and Richard Thompson, whom Ritchie recalls on a couple of his folkier songs.
Yet The Water’s Edge is neither a regular folk record nor typical singer/songwriter fare. It’s a rich, varied set of songs that are as feisty as they are folky, as rocky as they are pop.
Recorded with Ritchie’s core backing musicians, on double bass and drums, and Jazz Vocalist of the Year nominee Nia Lynn on harmonies, the album may have been made on acoustic instruments, but even its most reflective moments are packed with passion and purpose.
Already, The Water’s Edge has done some serious travelling itself. At the end of last year, Ritchie decided to send his album out all over the world, to see how people would react.
He recorded the songs on to 80 MP3 players and put them inside tobacco tins with instructions on a luggage label to listen and pass on, but also to photograph the ‘music boxes’ in interesting locations.
"I’ve sent out almost 80 so far, mostly with friends who are travelling abroad, and the response has been incredible," says the singer.
"People have sent back pictures from Tibet, the Pyramids, from a beach in Australia, in front of the Chinese terracotta army and under a waterfall in Venezuela. I’m expecting some soon from Baghdad and Palestine. I put the photos on my website.
"Somehow, seeing the album in people’s hands, in so many vastly different locations, makes it more tangible. These are songs I first played in my bedroom, unsure if anyone would hear them. Now look how far they’ve got."
Luke is currently on a Freshers tour around the UK with his live band member and sister, Charlotte Ritchie, who plays Oregon in E4’s popular student comedy drama Fresh Meat. Album track ‘Right Then And There’ is due to be featured in Episode 4 of the forthcoming series.
Live Dates:
21st Sept East Slope Bar Falmer University
22nd Sept Brighton University Eastbourne & Hastings Campus
23rd Sept Cockroft Building Brighton
26th Sept Royal Holloway Egham
27th Sept Norwich University Norwich
28th Sept Kai Bar Ipswich
30th Sept Student Union Bar Coventry
2nd Oct Fresher’s Fayre Marquee Swansea
4th Oct Revolution Bar Southampton
5th Oct Student Union Bar Colchester
7th Oct Fresher’s Ball Southampton
8th Oct Old Kitchen Bar Oxford
22nd Oct The Taff, Student Union Cardiff University