Today, Scottish singer-songwriter Callum Beattie shares his long-awaited debut album People Like Us via 3beat / Universal - the LP is set to be BBC Radio 2's 'Album Of The Week'. People Like Us includes euphoric lead track 'Mouth Of A Tiger' and BBC Radio 2 playlisted song 'Play' - out now to buy and stream.
Self-written People Like Us is a lucid insight into Callum Beattie's tumultuous and joyous personal journey so far - from Edinburgh to London to Berlin and back again, these are the songs of Callum Beattie's life, both his childhood ups and downs, and his more recent upheavals. The album title was inspired by a conversation sparked between him and his brother, Callum explains: "I've never had a world class relationship with my brother we are very different people in a lot of ways. But on a rare occasion I was eighteen and we went down the pub to play pool. He put his cue down and said 'So what's your plan, what you going to do with your life? You can't push trolleys in Tesco forever'. I said I'm going to write some songs and play to thousands of people one day. My brother replied, 'Callum things like that don't happen to people like us'."
Following the end of his decade-long relationship with his hometown girlfriend, he moved to Berlin - a place he had never been before. After a few performances at open mic nights, Beattie soon made fruitful contacts on the local music scene, and wrote 'Connection' with a longtime American in Berlin, songwriter Michael Ochs (Cheat Codes). Then he hooked up with producer David Jürgens in the Funk Haus studio (an old Second World War listening station) to record the brace of new songs which subsequently form the basis of Beattie's debut album.
Callum's strikingly rich vocal shines throughout the fifteen-track album, which provides a diverse soundscape that's indicative of his wide-spanning experiences that influenced his work. People Like Us also comprises the stellar debut single 'We Are Stars', the enthralling latest single 'Ghosts In The Dark', the irresistible track 'Talk About Love,' upbeat 'Man Behind The Sun' and the incredibly poignant 'Some Heroes Don't Wear Capes'. In light of the current global pandemic, Beattie has paid homage to the outstanding front-line NHS staff by reworking 'Some Heroes Don't Wear Capes'. The new version of the track was used in the latest NHS Professionals video which launched on May 12th to coincide with International Nurses Day.
People Like Us is set to be one of the most exciting debut albums of 2020 - it's a collection of songs clawed from the raw stuff of existence, nostalgic patriotism and bleeding love. It's real, and it's moving, and it's uplifting, and it's healing. Callum Beattie is an undeniably deft musician with boundless potential, it's only the beginning of what's to come from the multi-instrumentalist. Beattie says: "I've had some struggles in the last 14 months, that's for sure, professionally, romantically and psychologically, but now, I'm absolutely flying."
PEOPLE LIKE US ALBUM TRACKLISTING
1. Mouth Of A Tiger
2. We Are Stars
3. Bonfires
4. Nothing Hurts Like You
5. Easter Road
6. Man Behind The Sun
7. Some Heroes Don't Wear Capes
8. Daddy's Eyes
9. Therapy
10. Talk About Love
11. Play
12. Salamander Street
13. Ghosts In The Dark
14. People Like Us
15. Secrets
Callum adds: "Firstly all the songs I've written on this record are autobiographical and hold insights into my life and upbringing. 'Some Heroes' a tribute song to my auld man for raising me. 'Therapy' a song about seeing your therapist a little bit more than you should have. Ha. All these songs I hold very dear to my heart and I hope other people can now hold them in the same way."
CALLUM BEATTIE 2020 LIVE DATES HERE:
8th December - The Caves, Edinburgh
9th December - Cafe Drummond, Aberdeen
10th December - King Tut's, Glasgow
