Originally from the northern city of York, Leftwich vividly remembers lying on the floor in the lounge room of the small inner city house listening to his father’s old Beatles record as a small child. An academic and lecturer in International Relations, his father became ill during the touring cycle for first album First Smoke Before The Snowstorm, leading Leftwich to become his primary carer. On the day that he releases the new album to the world, he still feels that his dad is looking down upon him from up above.
“My father had a massive influence on my personal and musical life. I’m always honest with what I’m saying and how I am creating and sometimes I’m too honest yet it’s just a result of being overly passionate. He focused a lot on gender equality and politics, he was very principled and gave me the drive to make everything I say have meaning to it,” Leftwich says. “I think that’s something I’m doing a lot more on After The Rain. My father had an incredible sense of calm and being able to think everything through. It’s hard to be level headed when you’re a young man and feeling so creative and passionate, and making sure amazing music is given its best possible shot is quite a task. I’ve written a little dedication to him on the album sleeve and I know he’s looking down on me saying good luck and don’t get too drunk at the show.”
The journey may have been long, but BFL has hit the mark both musically and lyrically on After The Rain. Opening track Tilikum tells the story of a love that isn’t right for now yet could be perfect in the future. “I think that can be seen from the Timebomb Lover line. There’s a reference to the Harbour Bridge and I spent a lot of time in Sydney on my first tour of Australia a few years back. Landing at the airport and turning my phone back on after arrival. It’s about someone that I met on that first tour and ended up being a big part of my life and to an extent is still a part of my life. The verses are cryptic and jagged whilst the chorus is love for the future and hope. There was a time that I thought I was going to have a baby and name the baby Tilikum to link all the stories together, but sometimes plans fall through.”
While living in York and caring for his father, Leftwich started to demo the new songs into his home studio. Removing himself completely from music allowed for the tracks to breathe new life, giving them greater meaning in the long run. It was at this time that Charlie Andrews was brought in to help bring clarity to what Leftwich was creating. “Charlie was great to work with on this album. He’s worked with the likes of alt-j and Matt Corby. At the moment he’s starting on something with Madness. He was great to work with. He helped bring out the best in the songs and I’m really proud of what I’ve created in After The Rain.”
When are we likely to see Leftwich in Australia again? “I’d absolutely love to get back out there. I work with great people out there and I’m literally just figuring out when to put it in the diary. It’ll be a lot of fun to get out there sometime early next year hopefully.”
BY TEX MILLER
