The band wanted to give back to their fans in the form of a brand-new collection of songs, because although this might be their last album for the foreseeable future, the songs will live forever.
When Covid and life made it difficult to get together to write a new album, Shortstraw took a look at their vault of old ideas and voice notes from jams through the ages and picked and chose from there. A couple of them stemmed from little ditties frontman Alastair had doodled on his acoustic guitar, which was then fleshed out either in the practice room or finished in the studio.
The result: An eclectic mix of songs that don't really have an overarching theme, but happy songs made especially for the fans and band members themselves.
As usual, Shortstraw teamed up with producer Jacques du Plessis at High Seas Studios in Parkwood, Johannesburg. Jacques is very much the 6th member of the band in that he's played a part in recording and producing every album of the band apart from the first one.
“We just wanted to put out all the songs we were sitting on. Since the hiatus in 2018, we've been struggling to get back into the swing of things because we all have our own businesses that we love doing and it’s hard to juggle it all. This is potentially a last hurrah for us, but the show is not over because we are proud to give fans a new album,” says Alastair & Russell.
“All the lyrics I write are either about my wife, my dog, or being a miser. Or sometimes it's just a story I made up. There's a song about living in Joburg called Sucker for Punishment. So, it's all over the place. But we love it all.” says Alastair.
I caught up with Alastair last week…
Sleeper inner and free drink drinker.
A loud ringing in your ears.
Nostalgia.
Don't be an idiot.
Trying not to behave like Johnny Depp and Amber Heard.
The ringing starts to fade away.
Religion.
David Byrne.
Dagga and whiskey.
The free drinks.
Keanu Reeves, begrudgingly.
Tom once weed in his pants. Actually, it happened more than once. Pretty much whenever Tom wees in his pants.
Underrated.
Probably not very iconic. Have you seen how we dress?
Pete Davidson. Because, how?
A photo of my first two dogs.
Whiskey.
One last jol at the Bohemian.
Big legs.
"This band sounds a lot like Desmond & the Tutus"
Be rich.
Very, very good looking. Modest.
Trash reality shows.
Dude, Where's My Car?
Divorcing Jack by Colin Bateman
El Scorcho by Weezer.
My wife. My dogs. My family. My friends.
Ullage.
A putt-putt tour of America.
Making it through 2021.
Being tired.
That a snake will pop its head out the toilet while I'm having a poo.
Beer in a plastic cup.
Avoid eye contact.
Treat others the way you want to be treated. I.e., Don't be a douche bag.
Touring Japan.
We have a charity called the Bowsie Foundation where all proceeds go to various dog shelters.
World peace. Better posture. That dogs lived longer.
