Charlie Fink I Was Born To Be A Cowboy

Charlie Fink I Was Born To Be A Cowboy

Charlie Fink has released a new song, I Was Born To Be A Cowboy, takenfrom his upcoming debut solo album. The song is the latest to be made available from the former Noah and The Whale frontman's LP, Cover My Tracks, which will be released on 2nd June and be accompanied by a brand new production of the same name, starring Fink and Jade Anouka, at UK's The Old Vic Theatre from 5-17th June.

I Was Born To Be A Cowboy is one of the most upbeat moments on Cover My Tracks, and is certain to thrill Fink's Noah and The Whale fanbase. The single is available now as a free download, alongside the previously released Firecracker and Anywhere You're Going Is On My Way, for fans pre-ordering the album.

Listen HERE

Cover My Tracks was recorded at London's RAK Studios and features string arrangements recorded at Spacebomb by Trey Pollard (Natalie Prass, Matthew White), backing vocals from The Staves, and the acclaimed classical guitarist Laura Snowden. The beautiful, delicate new record will be released ahead of a theatrical production of the same name, directed by Max Webster and with a script by the award-winning playwright, David Greig, at The Old Vic Theatre.

Pre-order the album here: www.charliefink.co

Charlie Fink first became known as the frontman and songwriter for the band Noah And The Whale. The band's four albums sold over a million copies collectively, and they headlined at notable venues around the world including a sold out show at the Royal Albert Hall. Fink was also the producer of Laura Marling's Mercury Prize-nominated album Alas I cannot Swim and has written and produced music for artists including Charlotte Gainsbourg, Foxes, Rhodes and Eliot Sumner. He has directed music videos and two extended short films which were screened at music and film festivals in the UK and internationally.

After Noah And The Whale disbanded at the end of 2013, Fink remembers, he felt somewhat cast adrift. 'What does 10 years of being in a touring band give you permission to do afterwards? If you decide you want a break from music, it's not a great CV item. But the really scary thing was that at that moment I didn't feel passionate about wanting to write."

Salvation, though, can come in the most unlikely forms. For Fink, that form was a family theatre show, based on the works of Dr Seuss. And that's where we find the roots of Cover My Tracks. In early 2015, he was approached by The Old Vic to write the music for that year's Christmas show, an adaptation of The Lorax. Freed from the pressure of being the leader of a band, placed in a situation where he was part of a team – alongside director Max Webster and writer David Greig – he found his love of writing rekindled.

In the wake of The Lorax, which was nominated for an Olivier Award and will return to London's The Old Vic this November before touring North America, Fink began to work on an idea about a songwriter who has vanished, leaving behind a notebook of songs, through which the listener tries to work out the mystery of the disappearance. 'I hadn't even decided whether it would be an album, or me performing, but as it developed, my desire to be in control led to it being what it is."

That development came in collaboration, again, with Webster and Greig, and the result is both the stage piece – again to be staged at the Old Vic – and the new studio album, which precedes the show, though is not a straightforward soundtrack recording. For one, The Old Vic won't be able to get the Spacebomb string section, led by Trey Pollard, over from Richmond, Virginia, for every show, or get The Staves to sing the backing vocals, or the classical guitarist Laura Snowden to perform. They are all present on the album, though, to fabulous effect.

Noah and the Whale fans will note Cover My Tracks' similarities with the sound of the second Noah album, The First Days of Spring. 'I think the sound of this record is the natural place I go to when I pick up a guitar," Fink says. 'The idea of simple, storytelling songs appealed to me. I feel like we could have followed up The First Days of Spring quite naturally with this record.

Cover My Tracks is not, then, a pop record. It is not just centred around two or three big radio hits. ('It's a headphones record. A late-night record. A roadtrip record"). It is slow burning, and quietly insinuating. 'The main thing about this record is that I was trying to make it beautiful. I want people to have a reason to listen to an album, and there's a reason this album works better than it would as songs on a playlist."

Cover My Tracks Tracklisting

Firecracker

Anywhere You're Going Is On My Way

I Was Born To Be A Cowboy

The End Of The Legendary Hearts

Give Me The Road

Orpheus Is Playing The Troubadour

The Howl

I'm Through

Someone Above Me Tonight

Here Is Where We'll Meet

Firecracker Pt II