Following on from 2019's acclaimed 'We Sat Back And Watched It Unfold', 'Broadcast The Secret Verse' is the latest highly anticipated album from socially aware singer-songwriter Chris Cleverley.
As with Cleverley’s previous studio album ‘We Sat Back And Watched It Unfold’, ‘Broadcast The Secret Verse’ doesn’t hold back or pull any punches. Beneath the accomplished guitar playing and ambiant music once again his song writing takes centre-stage as he expertly details the issues faced by everyday people in today’s society.
An album of two halves, holding a mirror up to both the immense beauty and deep sadness in our modern world. As dreamlike melancholia interweaves with an unshakable sense of hope, it is primed for the deeply conflicted 21st Century emotional landscape. Like most of us, Cleverley spent the last two years as spectator to humanity’s highs and lows. As inspiration for this album, he set out to weave the two together with discordant and unflinching honesty:
We’re living through an era of unprecedented global change. It would be wrong to sugar-coat it all, but equally we must draw on the deep well of beauty all around us to maintain an even keel. To be real, we have to explore both sides of the coin
Fearless, liberated and unapologetic, his new work continues this legacy. Diverse subjects include pervasive artificial intelligence ‘A Prediction Algorithm’, charter cities ‘Paradise’, climate, nuclear emergency ‘Still Life’ and mass displacement of people ‘The Centre Cannot Hold’, all the while carefully highlighting the transformative power of deep interconnection with people and nature ‘Heraklion, If I’d Have Listened’.
Though unafraid of touching on bleakness, Cleverley is always measured, always careful to offer wholesome antidote and serene, meditative balance.
‘Broadcast The Secret Verse’ is a stunning album that marks Cleverley out as a musician and songwriter ahead of his time. One that we should all take note of not just for our own benefit, but the benefit of others.