NO LAUGHING STOCK

One of the great living Liverpudlians, Michael Head has plenty to smile about. But his has been a bumpy journey, as widely admired albums he’s made first with The Pale Fountains then Shack, under the aegis of The Strands and now The Red Elastic Band, have come either side of addiction-related potholes. Reanimating the latter project in some style at 60, fresh from another withdrawal induced by Covid lockdowns, he tells Pete Paphides how “I got my shit together, got focused” for his latest release, the Top 10 LP, Dear Scott.

- Pete Paphides

"Has it really been seven years?” exclaims Michael Head, moments after hellos are exchanged with your correspondent. The first thing you notice about the fanatically revered Liverpudlian songwriter on this overcast spring afternoon is just how trim he looks inside his matching denim apparel. Nimbly ascending the steps outside Lime Street Station, he’s quick to establish the last time we met, when his condition gave rise to slightly greater concern. In 2015, with a standalone 7” single Velvets In The Dark to promote, Head decided it was once again time to confront the dependency issues that have dogged his career since his days spinning baroque-pop magic with The Pale Fountains and the red-brick romantic poetry of Shack.

Not for Head, though, the managed, structured withdrawal of 12-step programmes or prescribed replacements to ease the comedown. That summer, he boarded a train to London and stayed with author, musician, and former addict friend Simon Mason, who shadowed Head at his family home in East London. It was a profusely sweating, somewhat fragile songsmith that greeted me two days after I messaged him to see if he might be up for joining me on a show I hosted for online station Soho Radio. Courteous but shy, he attempted to manage his physical discomfort by drinking fizzy pop, but really it was only when he cradled his guitar and started to pick out a melody that he hit his stride.

The song he played was the maritime folk reverie of Hocken’s Hey – a track originally featured on an album whose mere mention will forever elicit an awed reverence in those who have heard it. Released in 1997, The Magical