Justin Currie
I’d heard of Del Amitri in the charts when I was at school, but I first saw them live at Wembley Stadium in 1996. They had a short set supporting Bryan Adams. I saw them live many times after that, in Cambridge, Norwich and London.
Frontman Justin Currie has released two solo albums since 2007 and to me, many of the tracks on those albums present songwriting perfect. Currie has always been an amazing lyricist, and yet those lyrics seem to fit hand in glove with a moment in time melody or passage of music resulting in something far greater than the sum of the two components. And what makes his craft incredible is that he repeats it song after song.
I’ve often made the mistake of sitting down to start writing a song and contrasting every line or chord sequence with the question: Is this something Currie would sing or play? Invariably the answer is no, and I start again. And invariably, I end up with nothing.
Many artists have become strong influences but I can’t see my history without Currie and the guys from Del Amitri involved. If I ever pen a song with half the quality or class, I’ll stop right then.
