Blur drummer Dave Rowntree has released his first solo single, “London Bridge,” via Cooking Vinyl. It was Produced with Leo Abrahams (Wild Beasts, Brian Eno, Ghostpoet) and marks the start of a new project for Rowntree. The lo-fi song may appear to be upbeat, but the lyrics instill a “sense of dread” and it is accompanied by a video.
Rowntree, who plays the guitar and synth as well as the drums, says:
When i lived in London things just started happening when I was near London Bridge, going over London Bridge on the bus, or on the tube going underneath London Bridge. I would just notice events occurring, or have life changing thoughts, make decisions and it was slightly unsettling. I had to confront my London Bridge demons.
The video for the track was made with French design trio Cauboyz, and was originally intricately handmade with paper in prototype form, before the individual shapes and cylinders were built, motorized and sequenced together.
As well as being a multi-instrumentalist, Rowntree is also a film and TV composer (credits include Netflix series The One and the BBC technological crime thriller The Capture), podcaster, light aircraft pilot and instructor, lawyer, and former Labor councilor.
He adds:
I’m really excited to release my first single as a solo artist. It’s from a body of work that I’ve been putting together over the last couple of years, and I’m humbled to be releasing it on the legendary Cooking Vinyl label.
