Having received praise from BBC Introducing for their last record, the Pop-Rock band One Week Later are back with their new single and video ‘The Right Way’ from their upcoming album ‘ECLECTICA’, which is out now. Having written and recorded music together for over 10 years, Rich Smith and Jane Broughton from Staffordshire have already experimented with numerous styles, with this next record set to break genre boundaries.
The title ‘ECLECTICA’ reflects the band's hopes that the album will have something for everyone and lead single ‘The Right Way’ acts as a strong lifting off point for their new material.
We chatted to One Week Later to find out more...
Hi guys, how have you been? We’re all good thanks and looking forward to being more active now a bit more normality has returned after peoples concerns over Covid.
“The Right Way” has a very distinctive folk-rock sound. Can you tell us a bit about your influence on this? Jane, our singer and lyric writer originally started in a folk band whilst Rich who composes the music and arrangements was originally in an alternative rock band. Combining these styles into our own sound and taking influences from a wide range of music was always our plan for One Week Later.
The track is from your recently released album ‘ECLECTICA’ could you speak a little bit about the themes of the album? The songs were written during the first lockdown, we felt quite strongly in such troubled times that we wanted the overall feel of the tracks and the message to be one of positivity and hope. We wanted to produce songs that would give that feeling to people, we realised there would be a number of covid related songs out there reminding us how bad things are, whilst that is fair enough and has it’s place we were very much we will all get through this.
To give a brief overview of each song on the album:-
Stage Fright: The message is don’t worry, don’t be afraid to try new opportunities that may seem scary as new and experience life in a positive way. Different: We wanted to capture that electric moment of first meeting someone, the spark, the chemistry. Crystal Ball: This is about moving forward and not being weighed down by the past and things you can’t do anything about. Shimmer: A moment where everything is perfect, you’re with who you want to be with, it’s Summer, sun, sea, the sunlight glistening on the water. It’s all about moments. Ocean Wave: This is about feeling free, riding the wave to see where it goes, excited for the future, feeling alive. The Right Way: Again looking forward, it’s someone feeling low who you are saying look to the new day, don’t let negative thinking drag you down. There is a way forward to something that is right for you. Trying: We think of this as our ‘pop song’, it’s about over trying with too much intensity which can have the opposite result to what you want so try but in a more relaxed way and things will make more sense. Rollercoaster: Life is ups and downs but it’s a hell of a ride overall. Questions: We wanted each line to be a question, it’s about making you think, do you think that way because right or just become habit?. What holds you back?, you have to try and make it happen. Changes: The message is you can’t change what’s done, you learn to live with that and learn from it but you can make changes for the future based on that which are positive. New Life: This is stepping out into the unknown, travelling to a new destination, a new beginning
Can you tell us about the lineup of the band, how did you all meet, and how long have you been making music together? We are a trio, Jane Broughton on vocals, Rich Smith on guitars, keyboards and Perky Dudley on drums.
The band was originally a duo consisting of Jane and Rich and the concept was to combine the different musical influences. Jane & Rich met through the unfortunate situation of both having partners with chronic neurological illnesses and from that link discovered the common music interest. We met Perky at the first rehearsals at Sinewave Studios in Tamworth in 2016. Perky Dudley is the son of Alan Caves (engineer for UB40, Magnum, Roy Wood) who owned the studio and Perky spent a lot of time there and played drums and we needed a drummer. We re- recorded a few songs with Perky playing and It all just slotted together nicely and we were all on the same page on development of songs and style.
The first one week later recordings were made in 2013 as a duo and self produced, a lot of songs were written over a few years before we went to rehearse at Sinewave as we wanted a good set of songs in place first.
You talk about music being a fundamental part of society, could you tell us a little bit more about this and your involvement with this? Music is everywhere, in everything you watch, games, shops but it is also escapism and links to the past and memories where you first heard a song, perhaps at a special time and it becomes like a time capsule, you hear that song and all the memories and feelings connect. Music can lift a mood when you’re down, the right tune, the right lyric and also show you’re not alone and others have felt that way or do so etc. In short it can make you smile, reflect and transport you somewhere else or get out an important message. Gigs benefit causes and help in that way. It’s everywhere in society.
Do you have more music for release in the pipeline? Yes we have already written new songs and plan to start recording these through 2022 for release in 2023, this maybe as singles, ep or a new album, the final package is still fluid as the focus at this point is the songs.
Are there any plans for live performances this year? We have only just started to look at live again, we were stopped like everyone by Covid just after a festival in France and some UK gigs, since then we have buried ourselves in writing material and perfecting it, that has really carried on a little past this release and so we now are turning our eyes to live again. We are planning some gigs in France in June 2022 and will be looking to set up UK gigs over the next few months.
