The Album

When I met Oskar Vizan at the beginning of 2026 and welcomed him in as co-producer, I suspected he'd be good — but I wasn't quite prepared for his exceptional levels of focus, detail, insight and motivation. His instinctive sense of what serves the music has been extraordinary, and it's been a real pleasure working with him over these past few months.

We've also had an array of guest musicians recording their parts. We've had excellent drum tracks laid down by Oysterband drummer Sean Randle, which have given several songs a real lift. I first met Sean at the wake of Rod Stradling back in January, and I was excited that he immediately offered to play on the album.

Gerry Diver has put down some amazing tracks for us, and his fiddle on 'May You Always' is a highlight. Around the same time I contacted a few musician friends, including Will Pound — maverick musician and squeezebox maestro — who has played on some key tracks. My old sparring partner Rees Wesson (ex Edward II and more) also stepped in to play on 'Heart to Heart' and 'Written In The Stars'.

Will recommended a fiddle player based on the Isle of Man, Elizabeth Davidson-Blythe, who recorded a rousing solo on the title track, 'This Is The Fire'.

We also brought in acclaimed jazz pianist Al MacSween and Benji Kirkpatrick from Bellowhead, who has just this week added beautiful guitar, mandolin and bouzouki parts to the Campout chorus song Bubble of Love, and my new composition The Power of Love. There are also some excellent contributions on guitar and stringed instruments from Matt Coldrick and Gerry Diver.

A chance referral also led to a brass band arrangement for Rising Up. I've been fascinated by the idea of incorporating brass band into a song ever since hearing 'I Want to See the Bright Lights Tonight' by Richard and Linda Thompson back in the 70s — the first "rock" record to feature a live silver band, I believe. We nicknamed our players The Risings Brass Band, and I'm delighted with the arrangement George Shrapnell created for one of my favourite tracks.

Another serendipitous moment came via an email exchange with long-standing friend and former Swingle Singers member Willy Eteson. I mentioned I was looking for someone to arrange vocal harmonies and chorus singing for the album, and he put me in touch with Infinite Vocals, a new outfit doing fantastic work across a variety of musical settings.

His wife Jo — who I also know from the Swingles — is closely involved with this exciting new project, and she immediately agreed to come onboard. Last week we received vocals for twelve of the fifteen tracks, which we're now placing and editing. They sound amazing. I'm delighted to retain a Swingle connection and bring things full circle, as I had The Swingle Singers appear on my last album, 'Under One Sun' (Chilled By Nature), twenty years ago.

It was also a huge pleasure to finally meet a musician I've admired since the 70s. On a trip to Kent I spent time with Geoffrey Richardson, who became such an important part of the Canterbury scene with Caravan. As a student, I spent many hours sitting cross-legged on college refectory floors and muddy fields at Reading Festival, marvelling at his viola playing. I also loved his work with the iconic Penguin Cafe Orchestra.

Geoffrey and I had been Facebook friends for a while but had never met in person, so I tentatively sent him a demo version of 'Oh My Days'. He came back saying he loved the song and its atmosphere — especially the sense of fragility in the vocal — then recorded a very moving viola part, which could also stand beautifully as an instrumental version of the piece.

He invited me to his Richardsonics Studio in a village just outside Canterbury, where he's currently recording with another Oysterband friend, Alan Prosser. Alongside croissants, fine coffee and great conversation, I was treated to previews of several tracks from their forthcoming album. They also spontaneously launched into the Penguin Cafe tour-de-force, Music for a Found Harmonium — a real treat to witness as they worked it out in front of me.

Then we were delighted to add in two spine-tingling lead vocal tracks from Christine Collister. I'd known her since the mid 80s when she was on the road with The Richard Thompson band with her then partner Clive Gregson, and around that time, we released their delightful 'Home and Away' album on Cooking Vinyl. Christine was inspired and totally suited to the more soulful and gospelly vibe of 'Love Is The Answer' and 'Invocation'.

As we've neared the end of the recording process, we've been fortunate enough to feature Bellowhead's Benji Kirkpatrick, ex-Edward II melodeon maestro Rees Wesson, and acclaimed cellist Emily Burridge too. The mixing stage is underway and we should have finished tracks in the autumn.