The album A Distant Shore tells a story in 18 songs over four acts, the journey of a small town boy, Hazy, from innocence to despair and then to hope. People You Meet is Hazy setting out on his journey from small-town to the city and all the people he meets.

A Distant Shore

People You Meet

The album A Distant Shore tells a story in 18 songs over four acts, the journey of a small town boy, Hazy, from innocence to despair and then to hope. Shore is a flute-driven rocker that channels Albert Falzon’s Morning Of The Earth surf movie soundtrack, wondering where we’ve been, where we are and where we’ll be in a time of massive environmental change. It looks back, remembering times surfing when the world was cleaner and more innocent.

The album A Distant Shore tells a story in 18 songs over four acts, the journey of a small town boy, Hazy, from innocence to despair and then to hope. The Times is rough hard-edged rocker that updates Barry McGuire’s Eve of Destruction, ‘cos the banks are not blameless and they got away with it. At least that’s the prevalent sense. Nothing can be done about it, too late, the horse has bolted, sipping an exotic concoction, working on the tan somewhere… and never coming back.

The Times

The album A Distant Shore tells a story in 18 songs over four acts, the journey of a small town boy, Hazy, from innocence to despair and then to hope. Rush Rush is a fringe punk song that says one thing, ‘screw it, I’ve had enough’. When you’re at the end of the line, when the world is going to hell, just screw it, get me out of here. It chronicles Hazy’s descent into despair.

Rush Rush

The album A Distant Shore tells a story in 18 songs over four acts, the journey of a small town boy, Hazy, from innocence to despair and then to hope. No matter what happens some low-life will rip you off. This song completes Hazy's descent into darkness.

The Business, man

The album A Distant Shore tells a story in 18 songs over four acts, the journey of a small town boy, Hazy, from innocence to despair and then to hope. Footsteps is an acoustic blues swing strut and is the rock bottom pivot point of the entire album, the depth of despair before the requiem. It tells the story, in an upbeat swing blues beat, of a man dressing in finery in his apartment and singing one last song to himself, the best he has ever performed, before throwing himself out the window. It deals with suicide in a compassionate and sensitive way, sadly a growing occurrence in these times. Reach out if you feel that way.

Footsteps

The album A Distant Shore tells a story in 18 songs over four acts, the journey of a small town boy, Hazy, from innocence to despair and then to hope. In Behind The Vei, a choir sings the requiem, this song started life as a punk thrash raging against death, I’ve no idea why it ended up as a soul cry to a choir backing. It seems to me I’ve been directed here by the muse, I can’t explain it.

Behind The Veil

The album A Distant Shore tells a story in 18 songs over four acts, the journey of a small town boy, Hazy, from innocence to despair and then to hope. Heavily soaked in lead guitar, Far Away is a rocker that chronicles Hazy’s flight, running away to somewhere beyond reach, not contactable, ‘leave me alone until I can figure myself out’.

Far Away

The album A Distant Shore tells a story in 18 songs over four acts, the journey of a small town boy, Hazy, from innocence to despair and then to hope. Nothing Can Stop Me is a light pop song, the turning point of realizing and accepting change, that whatever happens, the heart wants to heal, and given time, it will heal – if we let it.

Nothing Can Stop Me

The album A Distant Shore tells a story in 18 songs over four acts, the journey of a small town boy, Hazy, from innocence to despair and then to hope. A journey of returning only to the things that really matter, Hazy having worked out far away what he really wants to be, how he will approach the world. Changed, wiser, innocence lost, more centered, somehow more resilient and prepared for whatever the road will bring.

Return

The album A Distant Shore tells a story in 18 songs over four acts, the journey of a small town boy, Hazy, from innocence to despair and then to hope. OK, so sitting in Kensington Gardens, London, in the middle of a glorious summer day, watching the ducks and wondering why he feels so miserable, Hazy realizing he just wants to go home, to the freezing cold, to winter. And as the feeling grows, he’s already past wondering whether he can, he's on to figuring out how, and when, just dig into the savings, get on the plane. This is the brass-infused album finisher, a rocker about going home.

Winter In New Zealand

The album A Distant Shore tells a story in 18 songs over four acts, the journey of a small town boy, Hazy, from innocence to despair and then to hope. You Grew Up (bonus song)is a two-guitar ballad about summer love, first love, about meeting years later to find she has grown into a singularly beautiful woman.

You Grew Up

If you spend all your life searching for meaning what happens? One day, you just stop. You keel over with exhaustion.  Are you any closer to the truth? Or is it all just a waste of time? Party on. That's the story of my first album A Distant Shore.

Brent Finlayson

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